Flour and animal feed to increase in price from 21 March

by Linda Straker

• Grenada imports about US$6 million in wheat products annually
• Baking flour will increase by 12%, counter flour by 14%, and animal feed by 16%
• Caribbean Agro Industries last increased cost of its products in first quarter of 2021

As of Monday, 21 March 2022 the price for flour and animal feed at Caribbean Agro Industries will increase between 12% and 16%.

“These increases in prices of our products are significantly below many of the price increases of our production inputs. Wheat, corn, and soya meal for example have experienced significant increases over the past year in the amount of 63%, 56%, and 52$ respectively,” said a notice on the Customer Notice Board of Caribbean Agro Industries.

According to the notice, baking flour will increase by 12%, counter flour by 14%, and animal feed by 16%. The last time the company increased the cost of its products was in the first quarter of 2021.

This increase comes days after Mike Sylvester, Permanent Secretaries in the Ministry of Finance informed Grenadians that a shortage of supplies on the international market is resulting in an upsurge in the prices of goods such as wheat, corn, and soybeans.

“We have seen the price of a bushel of wheat for example increase from US$800 plus dollars to US$1,200 in March and there are continuing pressures on those prices including from what is considered as shortages,” Sylvester said during a news conference on Tuesday, 15 March 2022.

“Like fuel, these prices will reach us. We are price takers, who have no influence on how these prices go. We have no way to determine how these prices go…We do expect to see a significant increase in these prices domestically,” said the Permanent Secretary.

Grenada imports about US$6 million in wheat products every year and that goes into our baking and cooking and many of the other bi-products such as breads, cakes, and pastries as well as animal feed. Grenada’s wheat is imported from the USA.