Officials from the Ministry of Food Industry (MINAL) assured that the funding for some confectionery productions on the island is achieved with the money collected from the sales they make on the online platform.
Anayra Cabrera Martínez, general director of Industrial Policy at MINAL, told the official newspaper Granma that with the income they have obtained from sales through platforms with payments from abroad, they have been able to finance some productions, such as the candies that go to amusement parks.
Likewise, the official mentioned that the preserves have lower prices than those that had been previously marketed, adding that they are funded directly by the organization, with 100% of the raw materials sourced from the country.
An assertion that does not match the reality of Cubans, nor of many children who beg their parents to buy them candies, which reach prices that exceed the average Cuban salary.
It is also not a new scenario on the national scene. For several years, Cuban families have expressed their complaints about the limited availability of these products and their high prices.
In 2021, a Cuban mother regretted not being able to buy sweets for her daughter due to their prices in dollars and the long line at a store in Havana to purchase them.
"How far have we allowed ourselves to be trampled?" wrote the distressed woman on Facebook after the incident.
At the end of that year, the government was forced to remove the candies from the display windows of a store in Guantanamo dollars after a complaint sent to the local newspaper went viral, stating that many children saw them and cried because they could not buy them.
This event was widely commented on social media and in texts from independent press to illustrate the deep inequalities of Cuban society and the failed nature of the government's project.
Another example of high prices was the offer at the Agricultural Market on 9th and F in Vedado, Havana, where a packet of candies reached up to 1,250 pesos in November 2023.
In the same place and on the mentioned date, up to 600 Cuban pesos (CUP) for a pack of cookies; 1,200 CUP for a cake; 30 CUP for a single lollipop; all part of the candy family.
On January 6th, Three Kings Day, a mother got emotional after a Cuban YouTuber known for his channel "Vámonos con Juanka" gave candies to her children and other kids who were sitting in the Alameda de Paula, in Old Havana.
"Did you feel happy as a mother?" asked the YouTuber after seeing the expression on the woman's face, who was sitting with her children and other kids in the place.
The woman nodded and replied, "Yes, because..." but she couldn't even articulate a word since she was overcome by an emotion that almost brought tears to her eyes.
The incident reaffirms that the high prices of sweets and toys in Cuba continue to be a sensitive issue among Cuban parents.
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