Between the checkout line and the sliding doors of a hypermarket in Fort-de-France, a customer with graying hair pushes her shopping cart with one hand. On the other, she holds her receipt which she scrutinizes, frowning, moving in slow motion. “It costs 118.93 euros”, said Marie-Josée, grimacing (the people interviewed did not wish to give their last name). However, the shopping cart of this elegant 64-year-old retiree contains only basic necessities. “The yogurts are on sale, so I got some. Same for melons from Guadeloupe »breathes the affable sixty-year-old.
Used to hunting for bargains in several supermarkets on the island, Marie-Josée is familiar with the “quality-price shield” (BQP). This annual system for moderating the prices of consumer products has been put in place in overseas communities since Victorin Lurel’s law against the high cost of living, adopted in 2012, after the general strike which paralyzed Guadeloupe and Martinique for around forty days in early 2009.
At the entrance to this hypermarket, a panel lists the 134 items included in the 2023 version of the system, which came into force at the end of July: 73 food items, to which are added around twenty infant products, but also fruit. and fresh vegetables as well as hygiene and cleaning products.
Red label
At the foot of the poster, two amounts: the maximum total price authorized for this basket, set at 390 euros under the agreement signed on July 12 between representatives of the State and nine players in distribution and industry on the island. THE “total price charged in store” is 388.63 euros, says the sign. On the shelves, a red label indicates these items whose prices are capped for a period of one year.
“In the BQP, there are good products”, believes Marie-Josée. Authorities “try to set prices so that we can eat healthily”, she continues. But there are few customers who, like this retiree, have an opinion on this system. A decade after its creation, it remains little known to Martinicans. Chantal, in her forties, has barely “vaguely” heard. “We don’t take the time to look at these things”, grumbled this customer, in the humid heat of a mini-market in the center of the town of Robert. However, she carefully compares prices before buying: “I wanted powder detergent, but it was too expensive, so I bought liquid. » Cost of Chantal’s self-service shopping: 23.18 euros for a 5-liter container of laundry detergent, a 750 ml can of insecticide and 2 kg of limes. ” It’s shocking “this mother is indignant.
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