Food Consumption Patterns Part 2

95
Distributors Profit Margins
In Table 1, below: Tier 1 margins describe the mark-up charged by a high-volume distributors in
Port-au-Prince. Tier 2 describes the mark-up for a buyer who then sells the case by selling the
sleeves within the case, which typically hold six to 12 packets of cookies or crackers (this step is
absent with Chiritos and other cheese puffs, which are sold in large plastic bags containing 40 or
60 individual bags).
Table 27: Popular Snacks, Pricing, Profit, and Turnover
Profit
Tier 1
(%)
Profit
retail
(%)
Turnover
(est. in
days)
Snack
Snack
type
Retail price
(HTG)
Profit Tier
2 (%)
Bongu Salty 2.5 3% 8% 20% 2
Coctel Salty 2.5 3% 8% 20% 2
Guarina Salty 5 3% 11% 20% 2
Maxi Sweet 5 3% N/A N/A 2
Casino Sweet 10 3% 6% 20% 2
Salix Sweet 10 3% 13% 20% 2
Chiritos Puff 5 10% N/A 21% 1.5
Mini Jumbo Puff 5 10% N/A 22% 2
Several distributors said that packaged peanut butter was a product more appropriate for sale in a
supermarket than a market stand, although those believing small packets of peanut butter could
sell put the street price point at 5 Haitian gourdes.
Competing Processed Snack Foods
Although consumers reported most often making snack purchases based on “quality” of the snack
(see Figure 46 and 48), limits on the buying power of the typical Haitian consumer make price an
obvious determinant of popular sales. In contrast to the consumers themselves, store owners more
often reported “price” as the most important consumer priority (see Figure 47) and as one depot
owner put it: “The hottest seller is whatever is cheapest.” This result is a fairly tight range of prices
seen above for the most popular snack foods.
Figure 55: Respondents on Priority
When Choosing Snacks (Consumer
Focus Group Survey N=128)
quality
healthfulness
price
familiarity
other
1%
5%
18%
25%
52%
Figure 56: Store Owner on
Consumer Priority when
Chosing Snacks (N=33)
Customer service
Quality
Familiarity
Healthfulness
Price
3
3
7
8
12