The business community has challenged the recently-established Barbados Consumer Empowerment Network (BCEN) to bring proof that prices in supermarkets across the island have risen astronomically. President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Anthony Branker was on Friday defending the food retail sector against the charge coming from the consumer body which also urged Barbadians to boycott those supermarkets which are engaged in “unscrupulous” pricing practices.“Consumers must have the confidence to exercise their rights and take action against unscrupulous pricing practices and the ongoing rise in the cost of living,” the BCEN said in a release issued on Thursday.But Branker described the call as ridiculous.“That is a ridiculous call because if you just listen to regional news and you listen to international news, it is not a situation in which Barbados is isolated in terms of the rising cost of everything. But if the consumer body thinks that is the answer to it, by all means,” the chamber leader contended.
