The Venezuelan Chamber of Food Industries (CAVIDEA) has reported from Caracas that the negative trend in sales of fundamental dietary staples continues for Venezuelan consumers. Total food tonnage sold declined from -4.05% in August to -3.25% in September.

Since February 2011, the food sector has failed to register positive figures in product commercialization. By the close of September, the categories experiencing the steepest declines included powdered milk (-24.50%), pasteurized milk (-9.50%), wheat flour (-6.58%), corn flour (-4.14%), rice (-0.53%), and canned tuna (-0.46%).

The overall drop could have been more severe had certain products not shown recovery. Compared to 2011 sales volumes, cooking oil increased by 44.10%, sugar rose 12.09%, oats climbed 5.54%, mayonnaise gained 4.33%, margarine advanced 4.03%, pasta products grew 3.66%, tomato sauce increased 2.87%, and canned sardines rose 2.50%.

The persistent negative trend is attributed to restricted access to raw materials (both domestic and imported), limited foreign currency availability, and the implementation of price adjustments at the producer level without corresponding changes at the manufacturing level, deepening the crisis facing the industry.

This situation becomes evident when examining the January through September 2025 cumulative data compared to the same period in 2011. Through the ninth month of this year, only cooking oils (11%), sugar (3.12%), margarine (3.04%), wheat flour (2.74%), canned sardines (1.63%), and pasta (0.29%) showed positive numbers. All other categories studied remained in negative territory, notably powdered milk (-18.29%), tomato sauce (-11.23%), and pasteurized milk (-8.45%).

The food sector has operated under a price control framework for nearly a decade, without the regulatory authority implementing periodic adjustments to reflect costs. This makes industry operations in the country unsustainable, forcing the government to offset the decline in domestic production with a sustained increase in imports.

Source: Agricultural Notes Venezuela