Supporting Our Locals

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LadyDeath

LadyDeath

Senior Marketing Officer
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Let's try this year to support our locals. Whether it be businesses or products. As a third world country, our import bill is very high and the profits international chain company makes, goes back to them . It is not distributed in Trinidad at all. By shopping locally, we can create employment, generate income for lower-income households and keep that money within the community. We can make a difference!

Here are some articles to read :


http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolel.../02/why-you-need-to-support-small-businesses/

http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1903632,00.html
 
All good and well with supporting our local businesses but the problem is when our same local businesses are ripping us off with absurd prices and customer support. Most local businesses are solely focused on profit and will not focus on the customer satisfaction.
One example is - Car parts can be bought via ebay or amazon for just a fraction of what our local dealers sell the same part for.
 
I support the local businesses where I good treatment and fair prices. Otherwise its just a joke how crazy some of these people price their merchandise.
 
Supporting our locals is definitely better for our economy but I've been ripped off by locals many times as well. In many cases, sometimes it's just cheaper and easier to order something online and ship it down. I've found local places charging more than 2-3X the price of buying items online including shipping, customs, etc. When I do find a local business with great service, prices, and products, I usually stick to them like glue though lol Hopefully we continue advising each other on the good and bad spots to look out for so we can all benefit from local business.
 
I mostly support our local agriculture ..I rather buy fruits and veggies from a local fruit shed than price smart. At the end of the day i know my money was used to support a family , rather than filling a teeth hole in the white man pockets. I will also buy from places such as Trini Fried Chicken , Joe's Pizza etc. rather than KFC, Ruby Tuesday and other chain stores. And also you get more for your buck!
 
True! I usually buy from local vendors in that regard as well, but some produce is unavailable locally. I think slow home-cooked food beats fast food so when I do buy food outside I try to buy from the local food shops where you can actually talk to the people cooking your food. Local furniture also makes more sense than importing it IMO, as the quotes I've heard from some who have imported their furniture were quite high compared to good, decent pricing here. Any item shipped down compared to the price of someone robbing you blind will be a better bargain though, it's just a matter of being in the know.
 
That's true. Just imagine broccoli, garlic , onions , strawberries, carrots etc. can all be grown here ! Since last 5 years and more , Trinidad brought down some US farmers who showed us how to sucessfully grow it with our climate. Up to now i haven't seen anything or heard any news about it . This was done on one of the mega farms that we have in Macqueripe Road .
 
Wow I hadn't heard anything on that. They're sticking! Offering these foods, locally grown, would help the economy so much. Also, imagine how much more we could use these things food/drink-wise if they were more readily available and at better prices! Although, come to think of it, I'm not sure if the prices would be any better.

I look at tomatoes. I love cooking with tomatoes. One day the breeze blows left, tomatoes are $4/lb. The next day the breeze blows right, tomatoes are $25/lb. I've literally observed this during one week with a price drop the next eh, not exaggerating. I understand fertilizers, pesticides, natural disasters etc cost money but:

1. Farmers get subsidized by the government and there are also many grants available for supplies and equipment.
2. There is no method to most of these price changes. Sometimes you go to buy bananas three times in one week, for example, and you get three different prices from the same place for the same thing!
 
Well tomatoes are back at $4-$5/lb and watermelon prices are pretty nice too. I think one idea to encourage locals to utilize local products is to incorporate that in every day commercials and TV Shows. Cooking shows can focus on what's in season and easily available for the best prices at the time of airing the shows, and work with those ingredients. Other shows can emphasis on this here and there as regular parts of their programming, other forms of the media can do the same as well. A big part of Trini mentality nowadays (IMO) is to follow TV's example in dressing, eating, behavior, etc. This can be used positively.
 
End of the day, a lot of people will continue to buy the imported products for ease of convenience or a matter of comparison. Personally I just want produce that isn't sprayed with chemical .

Also, local supporting, I'm not sure. When a lot of road side vendors see a certain type of vehicle, suddenly the price rises much above the actual price posted on their "$2.50 per lb" sign. While I will be glad to help these people sustain their livelihoods, I cannot bring myself to feel anything for dishonest, greedy people who cannot stick to an advertised price. *I have also noticed this happening more prevalent in more rural areas now. Something which never used to happen.

That aside, to me it feels no different to being ripped off by a local store when prices rise well above advertised. Yeah, we have to eat at the end of a day but that doesn't mean we have to be greedy about it.
 
I totally get what you're saying. I try to steer clear of the places that don't have signs advertising their prices as well because it seems price changes depending on how they feel. I think set prices should be publicly shared; the earlier in the day with the freshest of ingredients, the higher the price they can call. Image if our farmers were actually selling organic produce. I would hope nobody would support even higher prices, but Trini mentality has shown us that the higher the price and lower quality the service, the more people rush for it lol
 
Thats half the problem .The other half is when they have huge signs saying what the prices are and then to tell you its a lot more when you actually stop for something of half decent quality.
 
That's why i shop at my local market. Yes it's a busy , dirty, smelly, crowded place, but i get what i am looking for.

Shopping at the market :

1. There is a variety of produce
2. Many vendors to choose from
3. Fluctuating prices
4. Fresh local Produce
5. Choose your own produce unlike buying it pre-packaged in groceries etc.
6. Form a good relationship with the vendors.
 
The market is a good place to be. Lots of good produce is sold at reasonable prices in the market, good point there.

Usually market vendors have a price, I have never really noticed market vendors rising/lowering prices according to who they are selling. I know usually they sell out cheaper coming down to the end of the hours if they have a lot of stuff left.

I think I even saw a few times where they just left a whole pile and put up a sign saying take it.
 
nirtime said:
The market is a good place to be. Lots of good produce is sold at reasonable prices in the market, good point there.

Usually market vendors have a price, I have never really noticed market vendors rising/lowering prices according to who they are selling. I know usually they sell out cheaper coming down to the end of the hours if they have a lot of stuff left.

I think I even saw a few times where they just left a whole pile and put up a sign saying take it.
Click to expand...




Prices fluctuate among vendors. Someone in the front row of the market will be selling tomatoes 5.99 per LB and someone in the middle who is getting more traffic would sell tomatoes for $ 7 per LB. Therefore it leaves people with different options and prices to choose from.

Also there are different quality of produce too. For example

1. Different types of produce e.g onions or tomatoes e.g Foreign US vs. Local Trinidadian
2. Different colour of produce: e.g Purple cabbage vs. White cabbage ( vary too with onion, broccoli etc)
3. Different textures of produce e.g Normal Lemons vs. Rough Lemons
4. Different Flavour of produce e.g Flavour of pepper vary among types
 
Still I prefer buy from the market when I get good prices. Variety makes it easier and more compelling to support locals.
 
I wish we can have more walk in farms here ..

This is something that has been big in the US where people can go to farms and pick their own produce and then pay for it . They can also choose them already picked and displayed on tables. This is a great measure since it creates a close relationship between the farmer and consumer and also comsumers get a good understanding how local food is grown and its importance .
I know there are some farms that do this but they are not publicized. I will love to do this actually !

P6120246.jpg
 
No doubt this form is good to choose the quality products but some people like to buy it from market in packing.I like both these.So no issue to buy it from market.
 
Also I believe the walk-in farms reduce the workload for the farmer as the people pretty much pick, package and transport the produce rather than the farmer having to do all of that and then take it somewhere else to be sold.

Thats incentive right there to produce since the people will come to you and it can possibly even be cheaper since there is less overheads.
 

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