Increased exports coupled with the current El Nino conditions that have turned the land arid in the Pomeroon and Mahaica have resulted in a shortage of coconuts in the country, with vendors lamenting that it is taking a toll on their ability to earn.
Since last May this newspaper has been reporting on the increasing cost of both dry coconuts and coconut water, but prices have reached an all-time high over the past two weeks.
The Stabroek News visited water coconut vendors at Bourda Market, at Regent and King streets, at the Georgetown and Woodlands hospitals, at David Street, at Mandela Avenue, in Eccles, in Diamond. Most of the stalls are closed and confectionery vendors nearby or residents said that the reason was because of the unavailability of coconuts.
The cost for the green nuts have also skyrocketed. A two-litre bottle of coconut water which once retailed for $1,200-$1,300 is now being sold for between $2,000 and $2,500. And while the dried nuts range in price between $160 and $300, they are low in supply. Vendors said those are also being exported in large quantities and as coconut oil.
“There is a shortage and it is for two reasons. Our supplier in the Pomeroon says that there isn’t enough fresh water …ain’t get no rain so the salt water is mixing and that is stunting the growth. Then this man [name given] started exporting on a large scale so the lil bit that deh gone…,” North Road and Orange Walk, Bourda vendor Vincent ‘Bud’ Wickham told the Stabroek News.
“In Mahaica it get plenty coconut trees, but imagine if the weather doing the Pomeroon River people so bad what happening here in Mahaica,” he added.
Wickham said that he was praying that there will be enough rain during the May/June season. “If we don’t get rain and the dry weather continues I don’t know what we will do,” he said.
Currently, he said, they are being rationed and the quota received “is finished before midday and we have to pack up”. Last week, he had to close the stall for three days because there wasn’t any supply.
On Orange Walk, Bourda, Amos or ‘Fat man’ as he is popularly called, also bemoaned the rationing. He said that he was now collecting around 1,500 to 1,600 coconuts daily, down from the over 2,500 he once got. He said that because of high demand he could not properly gauge when his quota would be sold out, but it happened “so fast” that many of his regular customers were left without.
Yesterday Amos retailed a two-litre bottle of coconut water for $2,000.
He said that the Caribbean islands are “eating up” a lot of the produce from here. All he can do is “pray that something happens” so the situation is rectified.
Rameshwar or ‘Coconut Man’ in Diamond said that his in-laws in the Pomeroon are his suppliers, but they are getting more for their produce than what he can pay and thus that leaves him with low supplies. “Meh in-laws getting US$3 without transportation to town or US$5 with transportation for the water nuts. I is gi them $100 for one. So if dem a geh more me can’t tell them don’t sell dem thing…,” he reasoned.
When the prices started rising last May, this newspaper had reported vendors attributing it to the exportation of coconuts, while some said prices were fluctuating because of transportation costs.
Mark Craig, a vendor at Bourda Market, explained that the price for coconut water has increased drastically. He noted that there was a lot of competition, which has caused business to be slow.
“Right now the coconut price is very high and dear. The coconut water is going up to $400 for one,” Craig stated, while informing that he often got his coconuts from Upper Pomeroon. He added that over the last few years a lot of people had entered the coconut business creating a lot of competition.
Immanuel Neblett, another vendor located just a few stalls away from Craig, also mentioned the price increases and disclosed that he too purchases his coconuts from the Pomeroon. He echoed that the price has climbed in recent years compared to a few years ago.
Jamal, who runs his business in Georgetown’s Charlotte Street, offers coconut water in the shell at $300, “while the bottle 500 ml is $400, one-litre bottle is $700 and two-litre bottle $1,300”. He too said that the Pomeroon is the source of his coconuts.
Floyd Williams, who runs a business near the intersection of Church Street and Orange Walk, said that the cost varied significantly very frequently. “Compared to last year and now the price going up all the time. We buying from Pomeroon for $120 and $140. Sometimes it go up and sometimes it come down.
Latchman Ramsook, who operates in Queenstown, also told Stabroek News that the price has increased from last year to now
“From last year to now we used to pay $80,000 for 1,000 [coconuts],” Ramsook said. “Now we paying $160,000 for 1,000. So far the farmer seh the coconut shipping to Trinidad. To get the coconut we here got to pay the price.”
Ramsook told Stabroek News that he had to raise his prices to turn a profit. He typically gets his coconuts from Pomeroon.
