Grocery Goods Report From Department of Trade for Providenciales 

By Dana Malcolm  

Staff Writer  

#TurksandCaicos, April 11, 2023 – Prices for bread basket items in Providenciales showed little to no decrease between February and March 2023; they remained stable over both months.  This is according to data from the Department of Trade, Industry, and Fair Competition (DTIFC), which is responsible for implementing and enforcing the TCI Consumer Protection Ordinance (“CPO”).

“The goal of the CPO is to establish provisions for the protection of consumer interests in relation to the supply of goods and services in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI).”

In Providenciales, the retail stores under investigation for March 2023 were: Graceway Cash and Carry; Graceway Gourmet; GK Foods (Leeward Highway); Graceway Smart; Graceway IGA; Sunny Foods (Five Cays Road); Quality Food World; Sam’s Club; Kishco; Charlie’s; Do It Center; Business Solutions and KB Home Center.

The Department did not disclose why they chose these particular stores. 

The point of the exercise is to keep track of prices to make sure “prices set by providers do not grossly exceed the price at which similar goods or services are readily available to customers.”

Once again, however, prices could not be compared directly between stores because of the variation in size and branding regarding each bread basket item.

Rice, for the most part, remained steady between February and March, so did flour, grits, bread, macaroni and cheese, cereal, Vienna sausages, fresh and canned meats, evaporated milk, cooking oil, fruit, sugar, baby food, water, cleaning supplies, disinfectant, diapers of all sizes, protein shakes, and coffee.

Instant noodles fluctuated slightly, but prices always remained within two dollars of each other.

Slight increases were noted for some stores in the price of chicken.  Irregular spikes and drops in the price of cheese were also noted across stores.

Prices on eggs were down significantly for the most part.

Despite slowing inflation, food inflation in the United States is still high, which affects the Turks and Caicos’ food prices as it is the country’s top supplier.