With coconuts in short supply, some Port-of-Spain vendors say they are facing pressure as they have been forced to increase their prices from $10 to $12 per coconut as wholesalers have also upped their prices.
When Guardian Media visited the Queen’s Park Savannah yesterday, some vendors said the price increase was now backfiring as some customers were finding it difficult to pay the extra $2 for a coconut.
While some vendors blamed the dry season for the scarcity of coconuts, another vendor said that large businesses were making it difficult for small coconut vendors to get any of the supply.
One vendor, Ily St Clair, said the nuts were decreasing in size and quality but the prices were increasing.
St Clair said, “It’s the bigger heads buying it up and small fish like we getting nothing. It’s not that it’s that scarce because it didn’t have on the trees. It did, but they buying it up and mixing it with their additives, and when we go, we getting the smaller coconuts.”
As a result of the decrease in coconut supply, St Clair is encouraging the public to plant coconut trees in their yards.
“We need to follow what the Prime Minister said to do, start planting fruits and vegetables in our backyards. People should be planting coconut trees. People don’t water coconut trees, we depend on water from the sky to do it for us, but if we plant our own during both rainy and dry seasons, that will be good.”
Roop Sammy, 60, better known as “Tony the coconut man”, who has been selling coconuts at the Queen’s Park for over 25 years said coconuts had been scarce since February.
Sammy said, “After the Carnival, men rip the trees. So, after the Carnival now, you ain’t getting coconut and the dry season comes out, so it mash up everything. You have to wait now for rain to come out, to fall for the coconut to pump up a little bit. But, the little bit you getting, it’s small but you still getting water in it and the price is just $12.”
One of Sammy’s customers, Vishi Harry, said he was happy to see him out yesterday as there was a shortage of coconuts in South Trinidad.
Harry said, “I think there is a shortage. Where we live in San Fernando side, Palmiste especially, before they used to have two or three coconut vendors, but now we will only see one. Even some parts going down to Penal, where we know they used to have coconut vendors selling, we don’t really see them around as much.
“Knowing the economy right now, it is expected for the prices to go up. Due to the unavailability, it will cause a price increase,” he added.
Harry said he now paid between $140 and $145 for three two-litre bottles of water.
He previously paid $100 for the three bottles at the start of the year.
But Sammy said he would not be increasing his prices anytime soon.
He added, “You can’t increase that (price) because you will have to drink all the coconut yourself.”
Another coconut vendor, who asked to remain anonymous, wanted to debunk the myth that coconut vendors had little to no overheads, or that they were making a lot of profit.
She said, “We have to pay the climber, toter, driver, buy straws, bottles, pay to clean up and pay rent for the carts. We have to pay (Port- of-Spain) City Corporation $700 a month, even if we close up or don’t come out to sell because coconuts are scarce, we still have to pay for the cart.”