This comes after Saint Lucians expressed their dissatisfaction as supermarkets announced their sugar stocks were diminished.

Saint Lucia’s sole sugar provider, fellow CARICOM country Guyana, is also grappling with the yield of their sugarcane and their production of sugar. As a result, Commerce Minister Hippolyte says the government will be looking to other suppliers for the household commodity.

In the interim, she says, CARICOM processes will be followed.

“We have been in communication with our supplier, our main supplier in Guyana. So far we've had one supplier and that is because of us being a member of CARICOM. We have certain regulations and rules we have to adhere to as part of the CET, Common External Tariff. Because of the challenges that we've had in terms of getting sugar from Guyana, the ministry is going to write to CARICOM asking for their permission to allow us to get sugar outside of CARICOM. That's a procedure that we have to follow. But in the meantime, I need to tell you that we have received sugar,” the Commerce Minister explained.

The Minister disclosed that Saint Lucia received ten containers of sugar this past week and some six were received on Tuesday, February 13th.

Another issue of concern, she said, is the unavailability of white sugar.

“All of [what we’ve received is] brown sugar. That's the other challenge we have because white sugar is being used by our manufacturers more than anything else. I've also met with the manufacturers and we've agreed to give them permission to place their own orders,” she said.

The Minister assures the public that sugar remains a price-controlled good.