Individuals store at a non-public grocery retailer in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. Dozens of tiny grocery shops have sprung up round Cuba in latest months, referred to regionally as “mipymes” — pronounced MEE-PEE-MEHS, providing many merchandise not accessible elsewhere and normally function out of personal properties or garages. (AP Photograph/Ramon Espinosa)
HAVANA (AP) — Till just lately, the area was the one-car storage of a non-public dwelling in Cuba’s capital, Havana. Right this moment, it’s a well-stocked, if small, grocery retailer whose huge board on the gate entices buyers with such choices as cooking oil, tomato sauce, Hershey’s cocoa powder, Nutella, shampoo, cookies and jam — a treasure trove in a rustic that’s short of supplies.
The anonymous store within the residential neighborhood of El Vedado is one among dozens of tiny grocery shops which have sprung up round Cuba in latest months. Locals seek advice from them as “mipymes” — pronounced MEE-PEE-MEHS. The title derives from the Spanish phrases for the small- and medium-sized enterprises that had been first allowed to open in 2021.
By permitting the brand new companies, the Cuban authorities hoped to assist an financial system in disaster and strengthen native manufacturing. The virtually 9,000 enterprises accredited up to now embody the likes of stitching workshops, fisheries and development corporations, however it’s small retail outlets just like the one in Vedado that appear to be organising the quickest.
In addition they have larger visibility among the many inhabitants as a result of they provide many merchandise not accessible elsewhere and normally function out of personal properties or garages.
But regardless of their modest setup, their costs are removed from inexpensive, even for a physician or a trainer, who make about 7,000 Cuban pesos a month (about $28 within the parallel market).
For instance, one kilo (2.2 kilos) of powdered milk from the Czech Republic prices 2,000 Cuban pesos (about $8). A jar of Spanish mayonnaise goes for $4. Two and a half kilos (about 5 kilos) of hen imported from the U.S. price $8. There are additionally much less important items: a jar of Nutella for $5, a bottle of bubbly Spanish wine for $6.
The purchasers in a position to make use of these small outlets embody Cuban households who obtain remittances from overseas, tourism staff, diplomats, workers of different small- and medium-sized companies, artists and high-performance athletes.
“This can be a luxurious,” Ania Espinosa, a state worker, stated as she left one retailer in Havana, the place she paid $1.50 (350 Cuban pesos) for a packet of potato chips for her daughter. “There are individuals who don’t earn sufficient cash to buy at a mipyme, as a result of every part may be very costly,” she added.
Along with her month-to-month state wage, Espinosa makes some further revenue and receives remittances from her husband, who has lived within the U.S. for a yr and a half and beforehand lived in Uruguay.
Just a few meters (yards) away, Ingracia Virgen Cruzata, a retiree, lamented the excessive costs on the store. “I retired with 2,200 (Cuban pesos a month or $8.80) final yr and I can’t even purchase a package deal of hen,” she stated.
A lot of the merchandise present in these shops are imported instantly by the entrepreneurs by state-run import businesses, a system that has additionally opened the door to the emergence of larger, higher stocked shops.
In latest weeks, a non-public retailer, accessible solely to those that personal a automobile, opened on the outskirts of Havana, that includes large cabinets filled with imported merchandise corresponding to Tide detergent, M&M’s sweet and Goya model black beans. Due to its measurement (it’s no less than 10 instances bigger than the shop in Vedado) — and numerous choices — it has come to be often known as the “Cuban Costco.”
Cuba’s retail market has been very restricted, and for many years the communist state held a monopoly on most types of retail gross sales, import and export, beneath the argument that it’s essential to distribute merchandise equitably.
The ration books that enable Cubans to purchase small portions of primary items like rice, beans, eggs and sugar every month for cost equal to some U.S. cents proceed to be the premise of the mannequin, permitting households to subsist for about 15 days. The remainder of their food regimen have to be acquired by different retailers, together with state-owned shops and now the mipymes.
There are additionally state-run companies providing a bit of extra selection to finish home wants, however they cost in native debit or worldwide bank cards. The novelty is that the small outlets just like the one in Vedado and larger bodegas just like the “Cuban Costco” are totally non-public and settle for funds in Cuban pesos.
“For the primary time in 60 years, small- and medium-sized non-public firms at the moment are approved by legislation. Now the problem is for them to prosper in a really arid panorama for personal initiative,” stated Pedro Freyre, an analyst with the Florida-based Akerman Consulting and professor at Miami Legislation College.
“Cuba is a socialist nation. The elemental ideology has not modified. That’s nonetheless there. However I feel that Cuba is in a really troublesome financial second and that has opened a door,” Freyre added.
Observe AP’s protection of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
