Dear Sir,

Further to this article in today’s paper, “Pricing slashed at the English Market” (The Royal Gazette, June 29, 2022), I say kudos to the owner for not only thinking outside the box but for working with this century and the internet!

It boggles my mind why big grocery stores such as Lindo’s and MarketPlace continue, as they seem to still do, to purchase all their goods through a third-party agency. This is not only a carry-over practice from a bygone era, but in this day and age — the age of internet — is it still really necessary?

It boggles my mind when I think just how much money the agencies have made over the very many years they have been the island's middlemen! While size certainly helps with purchasing power, and Bermuda needs all the purchasing power it can muster, I wonder why the stores continue with a costly middleman instead of setting up your own purchasing department that is dedicated to your company and buying your supplies yourself.

The amount of times I am told that “the agency couldn’t get XYZ product” whenever I ask is a well-trodden mantra that covers a multitude of issues. Surely, a dedicated, in-house company-owned department may just do better for their own?

At the very least, can supermarket bosses please look at the way they are all doing business and truly understand and get it that, for the average Bermudian, we are all being priced out of the store entirely.

MARGARET BENN

Warwick