The State Trading Corporation is positioning itself as a strong competitor in the food market, offering unbeatable prices. The corporation is introducing a range of Basmati Rice, Dry Grains, Milk Powder and Edible Oil to be imported under the Smatch brand. The STC intends to help in the fight against the high costs of living.
A Premium grade rice
Smatch will be a range of products that will be imported for the Mauritian market. As for this Basmati Rice of Premium grade 1121, whose Broken percentage estimate is less than 3%, the quality test was done by the Mauritius Standards Bureau under MS 177: 2020. This product, which will be sold at Rs 332 for a 5 kg bag in supermarkets and shops, is ideal for Biryani, due to its texture and aroma.
Competing with private importers
Speaking at a press conference at STC’s Ebene headquarters, Director Rajiv Servansingh said: “This launch is part of STC’s professionalization in the marketing and distribution of imported products. There have been many requests to STC for such imports in these current contexts. We are not traders, but the STC’s objective is to offer consumers an alternative at a more competitive rate and to help them combat the high costs of living. We will be competing mainly with private importers,” said Rajiv Servansingh.
This part of the STC will not affect its four traditional products, including petroleum products, household gas, flour, and rice ration. On the contrary, the Smatch products are an addition. Within 4-6 months, the Smatch brand will also offer Dry Grains, Milk Powder, and Edible Oil, among others.
More details in the video:
Servansingh on fuels and wheat
Responding to the press on the news, the STC director shared that “before the last hike, we were making a loss of Rs 7 on a litre of petrol. Per year, we sell about 550 million litres. The loss was considerable,” he said. As for the supply of wheat, with India having just restricted all exports, Director Servansingh said the STC would not have any worries until the end of 2022. “And even until early 2023. We have a fixed price contract with the Concorde Mills. For the provision in 2020/2021, flour was $454 per tonne and last year, 2021/2022, it was $575 per tonne. But the price of flour on the local market has remained unchanged and we have increased subsidies to bakers to prevent any increase in the price of bread. In September-October 2021, the price of wheat on the world market was 1272 dollars per ton, and today, ie on Wednesday morning, it is about 100 dollars more per ton. We don’t know how the situation will develop until the end of this year. There is currently a lot of effort by the European Union to extract a large stock of wheat blocked in Ukraine”. If this is possible, there will be various changes in wheat and processed flour prices.
