MONTEGO BAY, St James — Though purchasing Easter buns remains a tradition for Jamaicans locally and in the Diaspora, some players in the supermarket and bakery industry have noticed a slight shift in the purchasing styles of consumers.

CEO of Westmoreland’s ICON Importers and Distributors and Quality Traders Supermarket Moses Chybar told the Jamaica Observer that while bun sales were significantly high at this time of the year, most of his consumers had bypassed the buns packaged in boxes to pick up the ones in plastic.

“Jamaicans continue to look forward to purchasing their Easter bun and cheese. This year is not much different, as the volume is the same, but what we saw though is that there is a little shift in sales in terms of the ratio of boxed buns versus the buns that are just in the plastic. We have seen where the sales this year on the boxed buns were a little bit less than last year, and the sale on the buns in the plastic was a little more,” said Chybar who is also the president of the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce.

The businessman went on to explain that he believes most Jamaicans are choosing to purchase the buns packaged in just the plastic wrapper as a means of saving money due to financial constraints. While the sizes and packaging may differ, Chybar pointed out that the buns are the same.

“The boxed buns come in different sizes but they are mostly medium to large, but of course, the cost would be a bit more because you are paying for the box. It is the same bun, it is just that the packaging is a better presentation and of course, the presentation costs money so it is a little bit more [expensive],” he said.

Chybar continued, “Based on the cost of living, people are trying to cut back on expenses that are not necessarily ones they have to incur, so what they seem to have been doing is just buying the buns in the plastic. There are still sales on the boxed buns, but there is a dip and an increase in the ones without the boxes.”

While he has noticed this shift, Chybar told the Sunday Observer that the sales of Easter buns at both of his establishments suggest that the tradition is alive and well.

“Overall, people are still enjoying their bun and cheese. It is a tradition that has been there for a long time and will continue to exist. I don’t see anything to suggest that people will move away from enjoying their bun and cheese for the Easter holidays,” said Chybar.

Similarly, at the St Andrew-based Lee’s Food Fair Group of Stores, the purchasing style of consumers has changed, as sales of larger buns have declined. However, director Patrick Lee believes that while the bun costs have also played a part in this shift, more Jamaicans have become health conscious and are choosing to consume less of the product.

“I found that all the brands that we bought were selling pretty well. We always plan to have a good sale on cheese and bun, and it seems to be doing well. There is something I noticed that is different from the previous years though. I noticed that the small sizes were moving a lot faster, so we could have prepared to have a lot smaller buns,” Lee said.

Lee went on to note that the season of Lent may also have influenced the shift in the consumption of Easter buns, as some consumers may be fasting.

“I think people maintaining this tradition are also paying attention to Lent. But there also are health reasons why people are choosing to have less. It is something that I will bring up to the suppliers because I noticed that change,” he told the Sunday Observer.

At the same time, owner of Duncan’s Bakery in Trelawny Courtney Buckle explained that his bun sales were slightly limited to orders this year due to a manpower issue.

“We did not go the extra mile in getting the buns to the supermarket shelves this year. We just did orders for the hotels. I think we were taken up by other work and we have a serious labour problem,” Buckle said.

He continued, “The labour problem in Jamaica does affect our business because normally we would create a separate shift for the baking of Easter buns as it is not done during normal working hours. But the labour shortage has put a strain on that, so we just resorted to supplying schools and hotels in the area that made orders.”

However, sharing the good news of his Easter bun sales at Peter’s Place in Christiana, Manchester, was businessman Peter Powell who told the Sunday Observer that he experienced an influx of consumers wanting to purchase the product.

“It has been good — better than previous years,” Powell said.

Sharing that he has been supplying the baked product at this location for 25 years, Powell said he has not seen a shift in the purchasing style of his consumers as buns in both packaging were on the verge of being sold out.

“The box ones are almost finished and we still have some of the ones in the plastic packaging left but I am sure that everything will be finished by next week. We ordered more stock this year from our suppliers than we did last year,” Powell said.