The Meat Company of Sancti Spíritus inaugurated its first retail store in national currency, offering beef by-products and implementing purchase restrictions to curb resale, reported the official newspaper Escambray this Sunday.
The establishment, located near the company's headquarters, opens from Monday to Friday, between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Payments are made exclusively via electronic transfer, while Saturdays are reserved for sales to the entity's employees.
The deputy director of the company, Lianet González, explained that the opening was made possible thanks to the 176 economic and social transformations initiated by the government, which allow state-owned enterprises to establish their own retail outlets.
"It is a dream that the company's management has always had, and it has been difficult to achieve because it was not part of our corporate purpose," González stated.
The directive stated that direct sales allow for lower prices by shortening the marketing chain. The store offers trimmings, red bone, and other edible by-products that were previously used as ingredients for making canned meats or were distributed through other commercial networks.
Among the available products is beef trimmings in sealed and shrink-wrapped packages of two kilograms, priced between 850 and 900 Cuban pesos.
The director of the entity, Donis Gómez Salas, explained that these products are part of the benefits derived from the slaughter of cattle and that, previously, they did not always reach consumers directly.
The company has established a limit of two units per type of product to prevent hoarding and reselling. According to González, the regulation aims to ensure that more people can access the offerings and purchase various goods.
Some of the first customers gave positive feedback on the prices. A retired woman stated that the products were more affordable than at other stores and emphasized the option to buy two instead of one to manage her weekly expenses, the media outlet noted.
The entity plans to gradually incorporate traditional cured meats and pet food, also at prices that its executives consider to be economical.
At the same time, the company opened an online store selling in dollars in the city of Sancti Spíritus and is working with Cimex to open three more stores in foreign currency: one at the Garaita Market in the provincial capital, another at La Amistad (Trinidad), and a third at El Álamo (Cabaiguán).
The store joins a wave of state commercial initiatives that the government has promoted in recent months, including the neighborhood markets that have faced criticism in provinces such as Ciego de Ávila and other areas for offering prices that consumers find unaffordable.
Since July, the monthly minimum wage in Cuba is 3,210 Cuban pesos. According to economist Javier Pérez Capdevila, a person needs around 96,000 pesos a month to cover their basic needs, which is nearly 30 times that minimum wage. A single pack of two kilograms of ternilla accounts for between 26% and 28% of the monthly minimum wage.
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