THE Christmas season is not looking too jolly for some vendors at Coronation Market in downtown Kingston who say the lack of access to imported produce and the trickling supply of local goods are affecting business.

According to the vendors, international suppliers who they rely on to provide goods are denying local vendors and catering to their bigger customers.

“We don’t have goods to sell, so the market is going slow. Is the hotel alone going to get everything because the suppliers are telling you that the hotel is going to come first, so we, the little local vendors, we nah really get nothing to sell,” said one vendor who requested anonymity.

The vendor added that the issue is further compounded because local farmers are still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Beryl and recent heavy rains, so there is limited access to certain produce.

“Is the foreign things we are trying to look to sell in the market. There is no local tomato, no local sweet pepper. The only things weh in here are carrots, little lettuce, onion, and Irish [potato]. We have no melon,” another vendor added.

In some cases, the international suppliers will give produce to local vendors, but it is in small quantities, said a market vendor who goes by the name Mushette.

“Them will give us sometimes, but dem nah give you more than 500 pounds or one 10 box of something. You hardly get a 20 box [of something]. Dem a tell you say is the hotel they cater for, so we nuh really a get nothing fi sell like that,” she told the Jamaica Observer last week Thursday.

“Every week now the container them a delay until Thursday, so when the goods them clear Thursday, we can’t sell until Friday because we nuh have nothing fi sell…and then they hold back some of the goods them. Dem a stop things like cabbage and tomato, so the produce nuh inna Jamaica to run the market, is just the supermarket and hotel them,” she added.

“It can’t work. They have to free up the containers. They have to make the people them bring in the goods so we can get them fi sell. If nuh goods nuh inna the market wi affi just sell dear because everybody ago wah likkle something fi themselves. Mi nah go know say a me alone have tomato and me ago sell out my tomato dem cheap,” Mushette reasoned.

Minister of Agriculture Floyd Green, in response, told the Sunday Observer that the claims regarding the matter would be investigated.

The estimated damage to the agriculture sector from Hurricane Beryl, a Category 4 storm that skirted Jamaica on July 3, is $6.5 billion. The storm affected approximately 45,000 farmers, mainly in the southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester, and St Elizabeth.

The hurricane was also followed by weeks of heavy rains that caused further damage to farmlands and loss of crops.

Crops that were most significantly impacted include sweet pepper, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and vine crops like melon and cantaloupe. Banana and plantain farms were also impacted.

The Government has intervened by providing resources and supplies to more than 30,000 farmers and fishers as part of the recovery efforts.

Addressing a media briefing last week, Green said Jamaica is expected to see agricultural production return to pre-Hurricane Beryl levels within the next four to six months.

In the meantime, market vendor Richard Lee said it will be a bleak Christmas for him and his family.

“This Christmas looks shaky because me nah make no money and everything spoil. My woman nah get nuh money. Nothing much nah gwan inna ‘Curry’ [Coronation Market] in terms of sales. If you look around for yourself and look on people’s faces, who nah buck, drop asleep already, and who nah sleep, a look out of space. It is slow compared to last year. Me nuh know wah go gwaan fi the rest of the week, but it slow,” he told the Sunday Observer last Thursday.

“Last Christmas was 150 per cent better compared to this Christmas, because last Christmas we saw things a gwaan, now we nah see nothing a happen; it coming like we eye shut. We just nah see nothing; everything slow,” said Lee.

“Sales nuh good. The people dem nuh have nuh money to spend…but the prices inna the market them reasonable and alright, so the people dem can come down come shop,” he added.

A check around the market revealed that tomatoes were being sold between $500 to $600 per pound. The price for gungo peas ranged from $700 to $1,000 per pound. Onions could be found for $200 to $300 a pound, and sweet peppers for around $600 a pound.

While some vendors faced hardships acquiring goods, others said they were not experiencing such challenges.

“Is mainly imported sweet pepper mi have and likkle tomatoes, but it better than nothing,” said one vendor.

For Marcia, the issue she faces is selling her produce before they spoil.

“We have goods but because the prices dear, people nuh really wah buy things, but mi cah drop it because mi haffi make my money for the Christmas,” she said.

The holiday season is also not looking jolly for some consumers who said their Christmas spending has been costly.

“The whole season has been slow and very costly. However, I am doing it for my little one. We still have to keep the Christmas culture alive, so we’re just trying our best to make it work,” said one shopper who gave her name as Jodiann.

“My advice to shoppers is that when it comes on to Christmastime, you have to come out earlier because the prices two weeks ago are totally different from what I am seeing now,” she added.

However, some shoppers are not allowing high prices to ruin their Christmas.

“For the past four years, this has been the better Christmas. Since COVID, it has been a bit unpredictable, but this year, for the most part, has been a little bit merrier,” said one man, who gave his name as Richard.

“The prices are going to be what it is. We just have to live within our price range and don’t spend above our means. If you can’t afford it, you just can’t. But if you can, by all means, just do what you feel like,” he added.

Mushette’s stall, which she said is void of goods because of issues accessing produce from international suppliers. 

The stall of one vendor inside Coronation Market in downtown Kingston who said they have not been experiencing issues acquiring produce.