Saint Lucian consumers are to pay more for pork this Christmas season.
According to the St Lucia Pig Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd., the new price increases are intended to help revitalize the struggling Pork Industry. The price increase was due to take effect as of December 15.
A release from the Cooperative stated that, the prolonged effect of the Covid-19 pandemic and global supply chain challenges have dealt a significant blow to an already ailing Pork Industry.
Speaking to THE VOICE, President of the St Lucia Pig Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd. Karl Daniel stated that like any other sector, the pig farmers at some stage undertook a review of “cost of production” to stabilize their profit margin.
“If you are selling at a lower cost than you are producing, then you cannot sustain that activity,” declared Daniel.
He said the last price increase for pork was in 2008, and “there were already incremental prices, in terms of inputs and so on.”
Noting the economic setbacks brought about by Covid and beset by other external trading and shipping factors, he explained that “some of the inputs that we have, has gone over 100%.”
Daniel pointed out items such as the ‘pig starter’ feedstuff used to feed young piglets, which he said, has gone from about $28 per bag to about $61 per bag.
“This is a reflection of what has happened…and labour is also another factor,” he added. “And everything else, because once the price of fuel has gone sky high then it affects everything.”
As a result of the spiraling price increases, he said, farmers are scaling down because they cannot make a profit and some of them have gone out of production. “So, obviously that is affecting the pork industry …and if the industry is affected, then the farmers are also affected, since that is a source of employment for the farmers in how they provide for their family and their children,” said the pig farmers’ cooperatives president.
Daniel says the issue does not pertain solely to the price increase, but “we are looking at being able to bring feed for the farmers, being able to organize a source of credit for them …and being able to help them into processing so that they can improve their rate of return.”
He adds that, “If you can add value from processing then you can increase the income of the farmer. So the price increase is just one of the things that we have decided to do, to be able to really rescue the pork industry.”
A spokesperson for the group said, the decision to seek a price increase was taken, so as “to reverse this trend and stimulate stability and growth, especially in light of our worsening Food Security challenges as well as the wellbeing of pig farmers and their families.”
In the run up of things, the St. Lucia Pig Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd held discussions with its strategic partners in an effort to find solutions to an amicable arrangement.
The president says they are working towards prospects for processing of “secondary products”, such as ham and so forth, but it will take lots of planning and effort to get there.
“So, in order to really stem that decline in the industry we really have to look at it …and to look at our partners in the industry, like the Ministry of Agriculture, and cooperatives and so on,” said Daniel. “So, we the farmers met and brainstormed …and whereas there is not a price control in Saint Lucia, we wanted the Ministry of Agriculture to actually validate the prices that we came up with.”
He informed that every importer has been informed of the price increases, and also “there are places where the butchers are already selling at $12 per lb.”
There are presently more than 200 farmers from across the country affiliated to the pig farmers’ cooperative.
To sum up the situation, Daniel declared: “We are in this thing together as a nation, and we have to see how we can forge ahead and make sure at least that everyone can survive …and to ensure that people do not go hungry and desperate, we have to do whatever we can.”
Subsequently, a review of the pork prices were effected, initiated by a Cost of Production (COP) exercise, using up-to-date methodology and validation by the Ministry of Agriculture.
The new prices represent the lower end of the price range from EC$9.77 to EC$12.82 per lb. for Dressed Weight Wholesale Pork; and EC$6.22 to EC$7.18 per lb. for Live Weight Pigs.
The prices are as follows:
a. Wholesale Dressed Weight per lb.: EC$9.50.
b. Live Weight per lb.: EC$6.50.