Fidelity Investments, which is now importing flour, has accused the National Milling Company of “crying foul” over the new product on the market saying yesterday that its import is legally purchased from Suriname and has been approved for sale by local authorities.
Businessman Joshua Safeek who heads Fidelity Investments called a press conference yesterday to criticize NAMILCO for what he described as a fear of competition. He said no one company owns the right to the flour trade here.
In newspaper advertisements yesterday, NAMILCO warned that the bags did not have the name of the product in English, the name of the manufacturer or distributor, the country of origin and an expiry or manufacture date.
“We are worried that contents of the bags may be re-packaged in unlabeled plastic bags and sold as loose flour and unsuspecting consumers may be under the impression they are buying NAMILCO’s product”.
Safeek made reference to an article which appeared in the Guyana Times yesterday about concerns being raised about the new flour saying he was “shocked” but not surprised that NAMILCO took that step. He said Fidelity’s imported flour is twenty percent cheaper than the flour on the local market, but pointed out that the Surinamese flour is yet to reach local consumers. Safeek said that Fidelity only imported the product a week ago and it has been distributed freely to some businesses for sampling.
A 45kg bag of the imported De Molen flour from Suriname was on display during the press briefing yesterday and according to Safeek, the flour has reached all the required certification processes. He said that Fidelity has no issues with any of the regulatory bodies in Guyana, adding that calls for the Guyana Revenue Authority to inspect the product are belated because the process has already happened.
He charged that NAMILCO has to focus on pricing and properly set prices for its products to stay in the market. Safeek said his product is priced strictly for the Guyanese public because “I’d rather my people stay in Guyana and live here with me than go and live in a basement in New York because the essential commodities are priced out of their hand reach”.
Further, he said that only bakers and a few manufacturers in the country have had access to the flour since its arrival in the country. However, he said a one kg bag of the flour would be available on the market to local consumers in another few days. Safeek also said that the flour has been in Berbice for some time and has only now made it to the city.
NAMILCO’s advertisement said it is an ISO 9001:2008 compliant factory and is committed to the highest quality standards. It called upon the Customs, Food and Drug Department and the Guyana National Bureau of Standards to monitor the importation of flour to ensure compliance with all relevant standards.
Fidelity has also imported cement and polar beer, the latter product recently resulting in a major customs evasion investigation by the Guyana Revenue Authority. Fidelity was subsequently charged but the case was discontinued on the advice of the DPP.