MONTEGO BAY, St James — Most supermarkets and bakeries in and around this western resort city have reported that they have enjoyed bumper sales of the traditional Easter bun and cheese leading up to the holy holiday season.

At Easter time, Jamaicans practise the giving of bun and cheese as a treat to family members and friends. Employers also provide the popular pastery to their workers over the period.

On Saturday, Kevin Small, manager of Progressive Food at Whitter Village Ironshore told the Jamaica Observer that the supermarket ran out of Easter bun and cheese from early Thursday morning.

He disclosed that, although the supply ordered was a marked improvement over the 2019 figure, it was still insufficient for the customers.

“Buns ran out from early Thursday. We did a purchase based on an increase over the year before COVID and they all went still,” Small told the Sunday Observer.

It was a similar story at Shoppers Fair at the Blue Diamond Plaza, where Sales Manager Andrew Roper revealed that, despite purchasing over 60 per cent more than last year, they still ran out of stock.

“Sales have been good. I would attribute the increased sales to the easing of restrictions associated with the pandemic. We made suggestions that based on sales we would order a certain amount. But we realised that sales doubled and they [buns] sold out before we thought they would have, and we tried to replenish, but the companies are out of stock as well,” Roper said.

Andrew Nathan, a sales contractor with Yummy Bakery, who was spotted sitting in his truck parked along St James Street on Saturday, said he was out of buns and could not get any in Kingston.

Grocery shop operator Elfermel Scarlett noted that for the last three years he has not bought any Easter bun to sell because they are too expensive. He, however, sells many of the regular size buns, along with cheese.

“The poor families can’t afford to pay $1,300 for a Easter bun. The money that they would use to buy that one bun could prepare a dinner for a family of five,” he contended.

But, Kemantha Service, a supervisor at Time and Patience Bakery in Montego Bay, who noted that the sales were good, said one of their strategies is to package the buns in transparent plastic bags, which is cheaper than the regular boxes.

“We have to cut down on cost because people crying about the prices. Even flour raise and we can’t raise the products. We always choose to make a smaller profit because the people don’t have it,” Service said.

A worker at one bakery, who spoke to the Sunday Observer on condition of anonymity because she did not get permission to speak to the media, said for the entire Saturday morning she only sold one of the buns packaged in the transparent plastic bags.

“The people prefer to buy their Easter buns that come in boxes. It’s now after two and I have only sold one of the buns in the plastic bags,” she said.