Is There a Sugar Shortage in Belize?

If you’ve gone to the store to purchase sugar or flour recently, you may have noticed a store policy, limiting the quantity that one family can purchase at a time. As recently as today, 88 Shopping Center in Belize City limited the amount of flour to five pounds per family and sugar to two. This led shoppers to wonder whether Belize is experiencing a sugar shortage. We spoke with the Supplies Control Unit, which clarified that the limit is not due to a shortage, but rather the trend of buyers purchasing large amounts to sell illegally outside the Belize market. This was reiterated by Prime Minister John Briceño, who told us that the government is attempting to combat the issue.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“No, I don’t think there should be a sugar shortage, but yes, I think what has been happening is that Belize sugar industries have been trying to manage the amount of sugar that we put out in the market to ensure that it’s not being sold illegally or contraband into Guatemala and to Mexico. The price difference is way too great. And we have to try to find how we can not take it to that level, but to try to find a kind of an equilibrium where we make it more difficult to contraband. We have a very porous border, so it’d be difficult to monitor. But no, there’s no sugar shortage and we continue to work with BSI to ensure that we get sugar onto the market.”

 

Britney Gordon

“So I understand that, but to allow, for the stores to prohibit people from buying more than two pounds at a time, isn’t that a bit ridiculous of an ask?”

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I really don’t know, I can’t comment, because I don’t know, but I think we’ll have to try to, I’ll ask the minister responsible for supplies control is this, also the minister of agriculture to, to take a look into it.”