For years, Bermudians have complained about the high cost of groceries. Government has responded with committees, legislation and various initiatives aimed at bringing prices down, but groceries remain one of the biggest concerns when we talk about Bermuda’s cost of living.

Thanks to conversations with people like Zach Moniz from Lindo’s, I think more people are beginning to understand that high grocery prices aren’t simply about stores trying to take advantage of consumers. They’re businesses. They have staff to pay, goods to import, electricity, rent, shipping and other costs, while still needing to make a profit.

And this isn’t just a Bermuda problem. Grocery prices have become a political issue around the world. In New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned on creating government-owned grocery stores, and that plan is now moving forward. New York plans to establish five municipal grocery stores, one in each borough, with the city covering costs such as property and construction while private operators actually run the stores. A core basket of groceries is expected to be priced about 30 per cent below typical retail prices.

Now, whenever government gets involved in business, there are going to be questions, and rightfully so. Interestingly, this isn’t necessarily some completely new experiment. Food & Wine points to military commissaries and public-private models, including one in Atlanta, where government support reduces overhead so essential products can be sold closer to cost.

I can certainly understand why that sounds attractive for Bermuda. Imagine having somewhere people could purchase milk, bread, eggs, meat, vegetables and other essentials closer to cost. But I also wonder how sustainable that would actually be here.

We’ve had a co-op before, and years later people still ask what happened and why it didn’t work. Bermuda also doesn’t have New York’s population or purchasing power. We still have to import most of what we consume, and government involvement doesn’t magically eliminate shipping, labour, electricity or the other costs associated with getting food onto shelves.

There’s another side to this as well. What happens to existing grocery stores that have to compete against a store whose rent, construction or other expenses are being subsidized by taxpayers? If government-supported stores can sell goods cheaper because taxpayers are covering some of their expenses, is that actually lowering the cost of groceries or simply shifting some of the cost somewhere else?

It could be that there’s something between doing nothing and Government opening its own grocery store.

In fairness the Government did partner with existing grocery stores for the affordable basket? But should we revisit the co-op model and understand what went wrong? Could Government use its purchasing power to help reduce costs? Maybe there are ideas being tried elsewhere that Bermuda can adapt rather than simply copy.

The objective shouldn’t be government versus grocery stores. The objective should be figuring out how Bermudians can afford to feed themselves without putting businesses out of business or taxpayers funding something that isn’t sustainable.

https://www.foodandwine.com/how-government-run-grocery-stores-work-11975917