Prices have gone down and the sales of consumer goods in supermarkets and hypermarkets especially have greatly increased. The average increase is 5% but the sale of some products has been multiplied by four because of the removal of duty on them.

The removal of duty has also allowed some supermarkets to deal directly and get cheaper prices from buying groups in countries where prices are more competitive - South Africa, Brazil, Australia… As a result, prices are going down. For instance, the price of a can of mushrooms has gone down from Rs 20 to less than Rs 15.

Consumers not only buy more goods, but they can also get higher quality products. Many of the super- and hypermarkets agree on the fact that the time when consumers were reluctant to buy is over…

<B>7/11 concept

However, even if some shopkeepers think this trend will probably continue in the long-term, others remain sceptical about the duration of the boom. If, as feared by some people, certain foreign currencies, such as the dollar or the euro, were to increase, things would change. Prices would rise and consumers would start shunning the shelves again.

The Tang Wai family may well be one of those who believe that the current trend will go on and is prepared to bet on it by setting up the 7/11 concept in Mauritius : this type of supermarket, born in Canada and current in the United States and Australia, that opens from 7pm to 11pm, is a small revolution in the sector. The Tang Wai family is thus proposing to renovate its former premises in Beau-Bassin (just across the road from Beau-Bassin police station) to that effect. The new shop should be ready at the beginning of 2006 and will offer some 5,000 basic products as well as a fast food outlet.