A look at the shelves on the ABC islands

On the island Curacao, it’s noticeable that there is mostly less fruit available. However, as shown in the pictures the shelves aren't completely empty. We recently published an article about some fruit boats entering Curacao again. This is not to supply the supermarkets, but it’s the floating market, which is known for the Venezuelan traders that sell their fruits and vegetables.

Import statistics by country, excluding oil products, published by the Central Bureau of Statistics of Curacao in 2016, show that Venezuela was in 4th place. Most imports come from the USA, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico.

Other statistics published by the bureau show the imports by commodity in 2016. It’s shown that the category of food and live animals, is the second biggest sector of import after machinery and transport.

Aruba
Ms. de Jong, an inhabitant of Aruba, says that, as a consumer, you don´t notice anything from Aruba being boycotted by Venezuela. “In the supermarket where we do our weekly grocery shopping, there is a lot of supply of fresh fruits and vegetables. The prices are higher compared to the supermarket prices in Holland, however, this has been the case even before the boycott."

The central bureau of statistics in Aruba published import statistics up till the third quarter of 2017. Import numbers by country in value show that again the United States is listed first, followed by the Netherlands. Aruba also imports from other countries such as Panama, Colombia, China and the UK. In value Venezuela is listed as the 7th country. However, it's important to mention that many other segments of non-food imported goods exceed the value of imported fruits and vegetables on this list.

Bonaire

We also took a look at the shelves in Bonaire, to see what was going on. The offer of fresh fruits and vegetables isn´t the same as the two above mentioned countries. This tourist, especially noticed only little to no offer of tomatoes and bananas.

Apparently, there is some production possible on the island of Bonaire. In the same supermarket spinach produced on Bonaire was available.