Choice of Retail Outlet for Fresh Fruits: The Case of Women in Trinidad and Tobago

Retailing in Trinidad and Tobago is in the midst of a major transformation as foreign retailers such as Price Smart attempt to penetrate the market. At the same time roadside retailers are emerging on a daily basis in the prepared food sector, fresh produce sector and dry goods sector. Traditionally fresh produce was predominantly sold in the public markets (wet markets) and roadside stalls in Trinidad and Tobago. Today the range of fresh produce offered by the supermarkets makes one wonder why some shoppers still frequent the public markets. Trinidad and Tobago is classified as a high income country and with relatively high levels of disposable income, health conscious and time pressured consumers; shoppers are faced with choices of the retail outlet from which they will predominantly purchase their fresh fruits. A review of the food marketing literature reveals that there is a paucity of research on the changing food market in the Caribbean. This study, which is just one part of the investigation into food marketing in the Caribbean, focuses on the socioeconomic variables that influence female consumers' retail outlet choice for fresh fruits in Trinidad. The results obtained indicated that the only demographic variable that was statistically significant was income. It is therefore concluded that age, educational level attained, marital status, household size and employment status does not influence where Trinidadian women purchase fresh fruits

A Trade Competitiveness Study of the Vegetable and Fruit Industry of Trinidad and Tobago

The vegetable industry in Trinidad and Tobago provides more than 75% of the fresh vegetables consumed in this country. Vegetables are produced using intensive, semi-intensive and subsistence systems and most are traded at the wholesale and municipal markets located in the main towns and cities. Some fruits, such as watermelon and pineapples are also produced using intensive systems, while others such as citrus use both intensive and semi-intensive systems. The industry employs a significant number of rural, sub-urban and urban residents in production, marketing and other facilitating services. It also plays a strategic role in the nutrition of the nation given the high per capita consumption and the capacity of the local industry to satisfy this demand: In the Uruguay Round of the WTO that was implemented in January 1995, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago adopted a system of relatively low tariffs that offered very little protection to the local industry against competition from imports. Additionally, during the period of structural adjustment of the economy that included liberalisation of the domestic market, the industry adjusted to a system of reduced support and increased competition. This has led to the production and sale of vegetables and fruits at some of the lowest prices in the CARICOM region Within recent years however, there has been significant increases in the importation of certain fresh vegetables, some of which are produced locally. This has lead farmers to express their concern and dismay, given that the country has the production capability. The Nominal Protection Coefficient was computed using prices for fresh agricultural produce from Miami Terminal Market, as well as domestic wholesale market prices during 2000/01. This was used to assess the price competitiveness of the domestic fresh produce industry against imports. From the results obtained, a 68% tariff (maximum) will be required to protect the cauliflower industry against imports from the USA. The other commodities of the study (tomato, melongene, cabbage, pineapples and papaya) are quite competitive and no tariff protection is required, except for tomato during certain short periods of scarcity. Given these results, it will be difficult to support an argument against free trade or to ask for protection for the vegetable industry in Trinidad and Tobago in the upcoming WTO negotiations

VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS: FEASIBILITY OF EXPORTING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES INTO MARTINIQUE FROM ST. LUCIA

Insufficient market research and intelligence on the fresh tropical agricultural produce markets in the French Caribbean Overseas Regions (FCOR's) limits the ability of producers and exporters in St. Lucia to effectively explore the opportunities and capture the benefits that exist in these neighboring markets. This study examined the market opportunities for the top six fresh tropical agricultural produce in Martinique, as well as issues that affect market access into the European Union FCOD, which is governed by preferences under the EUCARIORUM Economic Partnership Agreement. A value chain approach was used to assess St. Lucia's competitiveness in the FCOR market. Utilizing the Economic Competitiveness Coefficient framework developed by Singh et al. (2006), the export price competitiveness for the six commodities identified were computed. The competitor analysis of the major suppliers in the market for the identified commodities show that for selected commodities (yam, tomatoes and grapefruit), less than fifty percent of the supply value was accrued to members of the European Union. The study found that the commodities identified, yams, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbages, grapefruit and sweet peppers, could be successfully cultivated in St. Lucia. The results show that all six commodities will be price competitive in the Martinique market

A SOCIOECONOMIC ASSESSMENT AND RISK PERCEPTION OF STAKEHOLDERS ON THE IMPACT OF THE CITRUS GREENING DISEASE / HUANGLONGBING (HLB) IN BELIZE

Citrus Greening Disease is a deadly bacterial disease that affects all citrus varieties. It is rated by most national and international research institutions as the most destructive disease in citrus and to date has led to drastic reductions in production in Asia and Africa and now threatens citrus industries in the western hemisphere. Citrus Greening has been known internationally from its first description in China, as Huanglongbing (HLB), translated as "yellow shoot disease". The disease was confirmed in the Americas in Brazil in 2004. Since then, its presence has been verified in several other major citrus producing countries including: Florida / United States (2005), Cuba (2007), Mexico, Jamaica and Belize (2009). The economic cost implications of HLB have been estimated to far exceed other citrus diseases that have affected the industry in previous years. This study focused on two aspects of the Belize citrus industry: (i) the socioeconomic impact of the disease and (ii) the producers' response to the disease. The convenient sampling technique was used to enumerate stakeholders across the value chain to ascertain their experiences with the impact of the disease on the industry up to December 2011. The risk attitude and risk perception of primary (fruit) producers in the industry was evaluated by using a psychometric test. The results of the study found that the demise of the citrus industry would have negative socioeconomic impact on Belize specifically, citrus producers, agriculture workers, rural citrus producing communities and stakeholders within the citrus industry value chain. Analysis of the logistic regression focused on the significance of three variables: risk attitude (ra), risk perception (rp), and a combination of the two (risk attitude and risk perception) (rarp) on the behavioural outcome of farmers (whether to remain or exit the citrus industry). The results indicated that the variable (φ) (farmers risk perception) has a p-value of 0.030. Farmers risk perception was the only variable with a p-value below the chosen level of significance (0.05). Hence, only risk perception influenced the behavioural outcome. Despite this threat, an estimated 76% of the farmers were willing to remain in the citrus industry and deal with the challenges presented by HLB. The results also show that 49% of the farmers enumerated were risk-seeking and 66% had employed some form of management for the disease. Overall, HLB was perceived by primary stakeholders as the disease which poses the greatest risk to the citrus industry of Belize

A Competitiveness Assessment of a Major Livestock Industry in CARICOM: The Case of Broiler in Trinidad and Tobago

CARICOM, Broilers in Trinidad and Tobago, Livestock Industry, Livestock Production/Industries,

Value and Supply Chain Assessment of Dominica’s Hot Pepper Industry

Globalization and trade liberalization have created both challenges and opportunities for small island states like Dominica. Post 1995, the removal of preferential access to EU markets for Dominica’s banana resulted in increased competition and subsequently loss of market share to larger efficient producers. However, the liberalization of trade also presented opportunities for the marketing of nontraditional crops. Hence, Dominica embarked on diversification programmes establishing among others a hot pepper industry as a replacement to bananas to supply fresh hot pepper to local, regional and extra regional markets. While the industry may be attractive in terms of prices and volume demand, Dominica has been challenged to meet current market demands, and at competitive prices. This study assessed the competitiveness of Dominica’s hot pepper industry in a major extra regional market (Miami Wholesale Market) using the Export Competitiveness Coefficient Model (ECC). Value chain analysis was used to analyze the segments of the supply chain’s contribution to production, processing and marketing. The study found that Dominica’s hot pepper industry was not price competitive at current levels of productivity (4lbs per plant) and the average market price. However, at higher levels of productivity (> 4lbs per plant), Dominica’s hot pepper industry would be price competitive at all market price levels. In addition, the study found that productivity of hot peppers in Dominica using irrigation was 50% higher and profitability 25% higher than rainfed technology. Finally, the study found that lack of information sharing and communications among key stakeholders were major constraints along the supply chain

Fresh Produce Retail Price Comparisons in Trinidad and Tobago

As the competitive landscape of the food and grocery retailing sector in Trinidad and Tobago is being transformed and consumers are separated from producers, shoppers are more reliant on price/quality cues in making their purchase decisions. The purpose of this study is to identify the retail outlet with the lowest and or highest price for a selected number of fresh produce items, in an effort to direct shoppers to relatively cheap nutritious sources of fresh produce. ANOVA and the Games-Howell test were the analytical procedures used. The ANOVA results indicated that there is statistical difference for all the items at the different retail outlets – farmers’ markets, roadside markets, public markets and supermarkets. The Games-Howell results obtained indicated that the supermarket mean prices were the highest for all items. Shoppers who purchased pineapple at the farmer’s market instead of the supermarket in 2016 could have potentially achieved the greatest savings of $6.52/kg. JEL Classification: C12, Q13, M3