Cimex says it has overdemand for disposable diapers in Cuba

The Cimex company pointed out that the shortage of disposable diapers reported by Cuban mothers is not such, but ratherthere is an excess demand for the product and that is why it sells out in less than 72 hours of being on sale in stores at CUP.

Disposable diapers are an essential item for those who have small or disabled children. In recent weeks, finding this important item has become an odyssey in Cuba, especially if you look for them in national currency, because in MLC there are.

Yusleydi Lezcano Palmero, director of Retail Sales at Cimex, told the official press outletCubadebate that the country faces "an overdemand" for disposable diapers.

He assured that in the first quarter of 2022 "the disposition of the product placed in the store is at a94.3% more than in the same period of the previous year"and pointed out that "the chain as an alternativethe import process has decreased promoting the supplier Mariel", that is, the Vietnamese company Thai Binh established in Cuba.

"This month, in the sale of culeros in CUP, of a plan of 91,297 packages, 85,442 have been delivered. All were sold in less than 72 hours," said the official.

He explained that Cimex hastwo lines of business, in "CUP and MLC" and that are carried out with the same charge of CL (Liquidity Capacity Letter). "We promote the asses in CUP" he said.

He assured that they have more hiring than in the entire history of the company, but that the production of diapers has an impact "difficulties with raw materials due to the crisis caused by the pandemic".

Despite having confirmed thatreduced imports of disposable diapers Given the good compliance with the plan carried out by the Vietnamese company, he blamed the latter for the problems in the delivery of the product in the stores.

He pointed out that in the contract between Thai Binh and Cimex, the Vietnamese company is responsible for distributing diapers with direct delivery to the store. That is, the culeros do not go through any Cimex warehouse. However, the bottleneck is created in the stores.

In this sense, he argued that sales depend "on theagility that is imparted to those who receive and receive the product and also the Cimex systems.” He stressed that they have had "potholes, because due to an internal logistical issue of the Vietnamese company, the culeros arrive minutes or hours later or do not arrive on the agreed day."

Lezcano confirmed that it is Cimex that decides where the product is distributed. “The priority has been 94.5% Havana, then the rest of the nearby provinces, which has to do with thelogistical issue due to the situation with fuel".

In some places, which apparently escape Cimex's priority areas, disposable diapers never arrive. One of those territories is the Isle of Youth, where the official indicated that "they try to provide differentiated monitoring," butthe weather situation has made recent shipments difficult.

Thai Binh Global Investment Corporation, launched its factory in the Mariel Special Development Zone in 2019. It committed to producing 120 million disposable diapers annually for sale in the network of stores of the Cimex Corporation and Tiendas Caribe (former TRD).

In February, the Vietnamese company ratified its commitment to the production and distribution of not only disposable diapers, but also wet wipes and protectors for all of Cuba, prioritizing products in CUP.

The company announces weekly on its social networks the list of stores where it will sell the diapers and also alerts about the available sizes.

In March theDisposable diapers generated controversy in Sancti Spíritus, because that province approved the sale of the product through the supply book to all consumers, even in families where there are no children.

"La Fragancia", a sales point belonging to the Tiendas Panamericanas chain, put 500 combos on sale that included a package of disposable diapers in size S or M, and another of wet wipes. They were intended for users of the CMQ winery of the Jesús María popular council, even if they did not have children at that age.

The Cuban State wants to control so much that it ends up promoting lack of control, shortages and discontent among consumers.