Spanish
Error en el proceso de traducción
Ricardo Rosario, president of the entity, during his speech at the breakfast convened to raise awareness among its members about the reality that affects them, stated that at the end of this year 2025 the retail trade of provisions, although they remain the leaders in food distribution, operate in an atomized manner.
“We operate at a disadvantage compared to supermarket chains, both existing ones and those that are arriving, which, using economies of scale, lower their costs, and since there is no type of regulation, they set up in provinces, municipalities, and neighborhoods, competing unfairly with small retailers,” stated the commercial leader during the activity.
He said that this sector, in addition to buying individually, its operating costs represent between 19 and 23% of sales depending on the place where it is located.
Rosario cited among those costs the payment of rent, electricity, transportation, employees, fuel, taxes, but, above all, the payment of interest for financing.
"Other problems we small retailers face are the constant price increases, services, crime, citizen insecurity, lack of fiscal and labor regulation in accordance with the category, in addition to the abandonment of security, social, housing and pension programs," he explained.
The president of the CNDU expressed that, in light of the situation, they are coordinating a series of conference-breakfasts with experts José Luis Ravelo and Rafael Fernández, from the program “Business Lunch,” in order to raise awareness among the owners of grocery stores, warehouses, and medium-sized supermarkets to consolidate our strengths and present options for the sustainability of retail trade.
He indicated that the proposal is based on the following lines of action: reduction of operating costs, price stability, formalization, the creation of new jobs, and the exclusive participation of retailers in the distribution of the Aliméntate de Supérate program.
Reduction of operating costs
Rosario proposed to achieve the reduction of operating costs by granting financing, through the Agricultural Bank and Bandex, for the construction of five regional food distribution centers with the necessary air conditioning and logistics to supply 50,000 retail businesses.
"This would guarantee price stability through the direct acquisition of national or imported production items, establishing by resolution the price levels for retailers and final consumers."
Formalization
Also, he said that merchants propose that an agreement be established with the Ministry of Finance to implement, through the General Directorate of Internal Taxes (DGII), the National Monotributo Registry (RNM) to simplify the payment of taxes for affiliated businesses and that the cooperatives in charge can serve as withholding agents, both with the taxes of the DGII and with the Social Security Treasury (TSS).
"This formalization will ensure more and better jobs with higher quality and remuneration. A problem that we retailers have suffered is the decrease in participation in the government's social programs, to the point that the inclusion of large chains in the distribution of food in the Supérate program, where a single establishment can allocate four and five boxes to meet the demand of the beneficiaries, while we have been marginalized from it, with the aggravating factor that large supermarkets continue to spread their wings, while retailers succumb to unequal competition," he pointed out.
