Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The latest Basic Food Index (BFI) for March, released this week by the Commerce Department has reconfirmed public concerns and complaints over the increase in the cost of popular food items in American Samoa, which are mostly, imported goods.

But some consumers say that while they agree there’s been a spike in the cost of “basic food items, it doesn’t show the real picture of Asian operated stores in villages, where prices are much higher.”

For example, two consumers point to 22-pound boxes of chicken legs, which they claim that Asian operated stores are not selling by the case, but instead have separated the chicken and are selling it in two or three pieces placed in a plastic bag with the price tag of $2 to $3 per pound.

To prove this point, one consumer suggested Samoa News staff check on specific small village Asian operated stores, which have separated three pieces of chicken — drumsticks and thighs —into separate plastic bags for sale. Asked about this action, three store clerks said, “it’s easier to sell.”

According to the consumers — two of them, long time ASG workers — they don’t want excuses from the government on their data, just the real picture — that the prices of basic food items are much higher than DOC “alleges” it to be.

“This Administration is nothing more than being there to do what they want. They don’t listen to the people,” said one of the consumers, who has worked in ASG for 20 years.

“Do the right thing — be transparent to the public and tell it as it is,” the person said.

DOC’s Statistics & Analysis Division noted in the report that the trend in the BFI and food costs continued to climb over the last 12 months, with the March BFI registering a monthly increase of 0.8% since February 2022.

“An annual comparison of the current BFI to the same month of last year showed that basic food costs had increased by 20.4%, an average of about 1.7% monthly increase in the past 12 months,” the March BFI report states.

The BFI is a monthly rapid food assessment of basic food items to monitor the cost and availability of twenty food products throughout the community. And the BFI is not to be confused with the quarterly Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a comprehensive standard measure of inflation and the cost of living in American Samoa.

According to the report, the higher cost of fourteen out of 20 food commodities contributed to the 0.8% month-over-month increase. The commodities that contributed to the increase are Banana (16.8%), Eggs (4.2%), Sausage (2.7%), Ramen (2.1%), Rice (1.9%), Taro (1.1%), Corned beef (0.9%), Tuna (0.5%), Ribs (0.4%), Milk (o.4%), Butter (0.4%), Sugar (0.3%), Ice Cream (0.2%), and Fish (0.1%).

The report points out that a 22-pound box of chicken legs dropped three months in a row from $18 to $17. Mayonnaise and water also recorded drops of 0.6% and 1.4% respectively. Additionally, turkey tails, soda, and bread remained the same.

A handful of store officials who spoke with Samoa News said there was also an increase in these same food items in April, during the time of the community spread of COVID-19 and it’s expected to be the same for May.

And consumers — to whom Samoa News showed the latest DOC report — have disputed the report on the “water” issue saying that the price of a small bottle of water has gone “way up” since last year, to more than $1.50.

“Prices have increased everywhere — from shippers to wholesalers to what’s sold to consumers,” said one store official, who pointed out that even gasoline has spiked to above $5 per gallon.

“And there were a lot of tax refund checks released in the past weeks — totaling more than $3 million as reported by Samoa News — giving consumers more money to purchase things and their priority is food.”

Since the beginning of 2022, DOC has increased from seven to 14 the number of major to mid-sized retail stores selected for BFI monitoring on Tutuila.

But some consumers point out that small “mom & pop” stores operated by Asians in many villages have prices higher on many basic food items such as chicken legs, rice, sausage, milk and ribs.

They also said that people are always looking for lower prices but when there is extra money, such as those from tax refund checks, they will go to the major retail stores.

The governor’s COVID-19 declaration prohibits price gouging but customers have questioned how the government determines what is price gouging and what is not, when everything continues to increase in price.