Patmians are quick to complain that everything on Patmos – including and especially groceries – cost more than Athens or anywhere on the mainland or larger islands like Crete or Rhodes. The logistics of getting non-local goods – which is almost everything except vegetables, fish, octopus, squid, goat meat, eggs and a small amount of certain cheeses – adds cost which gets passed along to the consumer.
Some products are magically cheaper in some places than others – for no reason the average person can discern. Often these have to do with locations of factories and supply chain efficiencies or lack thereof. Resealable plastic bags, for example – when the supermarkets have them, which is highly inconsistent – are much cheaper here than at home. Same with deodorant, beef and most cheeses (Greeks are the number one cheese consuming people of Europe). Apples – which are largely imported – cost more than strawberries which cost about the same as home. And for some reason, pineapple is better priced here than home and surprisingly good.
With gasoline now hovering above the equivalent of $8 per gallon, it’s not surprising inflation has made its way to Patmos and it doesn’t seem to be for a brief holiday. This year, for the first time since having the house, milk costs more than home and eggs are about equal. Fresh bread from the bakery remains shockingly cheap, but lamb costs significantly more than if I went to Costco. Greek-made cottage cheese cost enough that I walked away from it today, though yogurt remains competitive. The car rentals rates went up this year. Thankfully, gelato prices have not. Appreciation to Andreas and Stelios, the gelato kingpins of Patmos, for holding the line.
The cost-of-living squeeze is real, and it’s everywhere.
This probably explains the demise of the produce market we have been going to for years. I can’t imagine fresh produce is a high margin business and of course it comes with risks both of spoilage and supply-chain disruption – especially for the rarer items that have to be shipped in. Last year, I thought the new owners of the business had a lot of time on their hands and the market was less busy than I had remembered it. Now it’s gone.
This is creating a produce crunch on the island. In a small economy, little changes have big ripples.
There is one other produce market remaining over in the New Marina, toward the edge of town. There are a couple of itinerant produce trucks which largely serve “settlements” – areas where people live, but that aren’t dense enough to qualify as a village or town – and Hora, which has no supermarket and is largely pedestrian-only, making loading inventory a challenge. One of the produce trucks has traditionally spent much of the morning near the port in the front of Skala. However, if cruise ships are at anchor, it’s not allowed to sell in its favored spot.
This means Sklavenides – the largest supermarket, and the only one to have a proper produce section – has become THE major source of produce for island. Sklavenides, which bought out Alpha Beta, is one of the few chain/corporate businesses on the island along with the bank and the electronics/appliance store. It therefore has the buying power and supply chain to increase its produce inventory and meet people’s needs. In that way, Sklavenides is the hero of the day.
It’s also sad to see local, independent produce take a dive in a place where local produce is the best. Moreover – and to start to become as picky as a Patmian – everyone cramming into Sklavenides each morning to get their daily produce just feels like a hassle. It is distinctly un-Patmian.
Of course, it’s only fair to recognize that Proton or Konstantas – the next two biggest – could decide to offer produce, but don’t, probably for the same reasons the produce market collapsed – lots of risk and thin margins.
Perhaps Patmos is beginning to feel the trend that has been sweeping most developed countries and areas for years – it costs more and is harder to run an independent small business.. Large corporations have the capital and buying power to overcome hurdles and deliver more selection at lower prices. Economics – whether in the form of inflation, or economies of scale – has a long arm.
Interestingly, this year there are many small businesses no longer in their spaces. Some have moved to another location. Others just aren’t there anymore. I’m not knowledgeable enough to know how much is inflation, changing supply chains, failing business models, retirements, etc. It’s not like the town is boarded up – and in some cases businesses have expanded to have second stores with more desirable locations, moving into prior businesses’ spaces like hermit crabs. There clearly are people doing very well. And retail and food service business always have a certain rate of turnover. There’s just more change this year than I have previously observed.
What does it all mean? Where is it all going? Who knows? The world is a crazy place right now – and we all work very hard to understand it, often developing hypotheses that may or may not pan out – and often adopting pet theories and worldviews that may or may not be true. Between humans’ natural tendency towards confirmation bias and our critical need to have something we feel we understand – now more than ever – it’s easy to see why people get stuck or off-course or just anxious.
I can say in a country where the average gross salary is the equivalent of $1,630 a month and net salary is $1,360 a month – milk that costs the equivalent of $4 a quart and gas at $8 a gallon are real problems. They almost make having to go to the corporate supermarket each day for vegetables not such a big deal. Almost.
