SXMElections.com

~ Tags Super U prices as cheaper ~

PHILIPSBURG--The vastly cheaper prices for groceries at French-side supermarket Super U compared to large Dutch-side chain Le Grand Marché (LGM) has National Alliance Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel crying foul.

The MP, who said he was disgusted with price-gouging by supermarkets on the Dutch side, went on a price-comparison mission Thursday, buying comparative or same items at both supermarkets. He shared his findings at press conference in Parliament House after his shopping.

“At first, I thought the containers for Super U were coming in at Galisbay. But no, they are coming in through Pointe Blanche. It is the same fees they are paying, the same container fees,” he said.

“Something in my book is wrong,” Emmanuel said as he held up a nectarine he bought at Super U and one he bought from Le Grand Marché. The LGM ones were approximately US $7.23 per kilo on promotion and those from Super U at regular price were $3.50 per kilo.

An LGM representative told The Daily Herald the nectarines that supermarket carries were from the United States while Super U’s were from France. He said the French nectarines were cheaper and his supermarket does carry the French version of the fruit at a price comparable to Super U, but in its Cole Bay location.

Emmanuel bought six litres of Frisian Flag skimmed milk on promotion for $11.63 at LGM. He paid $6.05 for six litres of the Super U brand skimmed milk.

An eight-pack of Panier de Yoplait at Super U was bought for $3.34 while the same brand and number was bought at LGM for $7.91.

“Okay, we can put all of those items aside, because they are all imported. What have me really upset are the eggs – local eggs from Colombier,” said Emmanuel. He bought 12 of the locally-farmed eggs from Super U for $4.07. The same number of eggs from the same farm cost $5.24 in LGM, a difference of $1.17. “It’s the same eggs. They were not imported,” he said.

Emmanuel said he could not understand the vast price differences when the French side requires employers to pay significant amounts in social premiums for employees while this is not so for the Dutch side.

The LGM representative could not give a reason why the local eggs were cheaper in Super U. He did volunteer that LGM carries eggs from Carrefour, another large French supermarket chain, at a price comparable to the Super U brand eggs.

The MPs’ bill for the four items (counting the six boxes of milk as one item) at LGM was $27.48. His bill at Super U for the same four items was $17.68. He had a fifth item on his Super U bill, 20 Super U brand brown eggs for $4.64.

It is “about a 40 per cent price difference” between the two supermarkets, Emmanuel said.

The prices for products at LGM locations “are vastly different from branch to branch,” said Emmanuel.

The LGM representative confirmed that some prices are lower in the Cole Bay branch, but that is for the Carrefour products that are mainly stocked there for the large clientele base from the French side.

This newspaper asked Emmanuel whether he had taken into consideration that Super U is a very large retailer spanning the French Republic and has the buying power to match, while LGM is a much smaller enterprise.

He said he had taken that into consideration, but if he put bulk purchasing power aside, how could the price difference be explained on the Dutch side when the containers were coming from the United States and those for Super U were coming “all the way from France.” When the containers reach St. Maarten, there are “no local charges” for importation.

“It is sad to see the abuse that has been going on. People have been ripped off. Government has no tools to tackle this. I want to ask the secretaries-general (SGs) and the minister: what is your opinion on this?” Emmanuel said.

He questioned how minimum-wage-earners on the Dutch side were surviving on their some $720 with the level of prices in the supermarkets on the Dutch side. The French side’s minimum wage is about $1,400, according to the MP.

Asked whether he was going to champion an increase in the Dutch side’s minimum wage, Emmanuel said his party had made several proposals for an increase, “but they are all sitting on Government’s desk.”

He issued a fervent call to the United People’s (UP) party-led 10-seat coalition to take action to increase the minimum wage. “They have the numbers. They can do it,” he said.

He also called on the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet, backed by the coalition, to start paying serious attention to what he sees as price-gouging by Dutch-side supermarkets.

The price list for food items has not been updated since 2008, according to information Emmanuel said he had received from the Economic Control Department on Thursday. “There have been no inspections for some time now,” he said. “Something needs to be done about this level of price-gouging.”

The price-gouging has sent Dutch-side residents flocking to Super U. That exodus costs Government revenue in, for example, turnover tax, he said.

Emmanuel wants Government “to take a serious look” at the prices charged to residents and to ask the supermarkets and food distributors on the Dutch side “why the prices are different?”

“In my frequent visits to my favourite supermarket [Super U – Ed.] I have seen ministers, SGs, top police officers, MPs, lawyers and judges shopping there. It’s like a Dutch-side reunion. That should tell you something,” he said.