A resident of Placetas, a town in Villa Clara, recently shared his frustrating quest for basic groceries in the area: days without eggs, cartons reserved ahead of time, and a bottle of cooking oil priced at a staggering 4,000 Cuban pesos.
The video, shared on Facebook by a creator known as DeRoche, has gathered over 168,000 views, depicting a stark picture of the food crisis affecting central Cuba.
DeRoche describes going several days without finding eggs in Placetas. When he eventually found some, the long line he stood in was for just three eggs, as entire cartons had already been claimed. He paid 40 pesos per egg. "With three eggs, I couldn’t even make an omelet," he admits.
The situation worsened the following day. The same eggs that were 40 pesos each rose to 200 pesos. "I went out again to buy eggs and found a carton at 200 pesos," he states in his video.
These prices align with those seen elsewhere in Cuba. In Old Havana, eggs are around 190 pesos each, and a carton costs over 5,700 pesos. In Alamar, prices are also 200 pesos per egg. Local sources in Placetas report prices at 160 pesos.
The Search for Cooking Oil
Finding cooking fat proved equally challenging. DeRoche searched all over the municipality for lard but came up empty-handed. "I almost toured France looking for lard and found nothing," he comments sarcastically.
The scarcity has a structural reason: Villa Clara has lost around 181,000 cattle over a decade, with calf mortality due to malnutrition, as noted in a July report highlighting the province's severe livestock crisis.
The only available alternative was oil, but at a prohibitive cost of 4,000 pesos per bottle. The unchecked rise in oil prices in Cuba can be traced back to a regulatory change: Resolution 150/2026 from the Ministry of Finance and Prices, issued on June 20, removed retail price caps for imported cooking oils, lifting previous regulations that capped prices at 990 pesos per liter.
Impact of Rising Costs
Since then, prices have soared from about 1,500 pesos in April to 2,000-2,500 pesos in July, and now exceed 4,000 pesos in numerous provinces, with peaks reaching 7,000 pesos in certain areas.
The municipal government of Guantánamo attempted to address the issue by setting a "reference price" of 2,200 pesos per liter but clarified it wasn't a mandatory cap, illustrating local authorities' inability to curb the rampant price increases.
Villa Clara has also been dealing with an ongoing energy and food crisis. In May, power outages lasting up to twenty hours a day and a lack of domestic gas forced many families to rely on food sold by state entities.
By July, stores in Santa Clara began distributing rice, pasta, and stew directly to neighborhoods.
DeRoche concludes his video with a question capturing the desperation felt by many Cubans: "How are the retired elderly? How are those who rely on others' charity to get through the day?"
His own answer offers little hope: "If we wake up tomorrow and eat, it's thanks to God's great mercy. Because we're consuming ourselves, spending money, and it's money that doesn’t come in."
The Economic Hardships Facing Cubans
Why are basic food items so expensive in Cuba?
The high cost of basic food items in Cuba is driven by a combination of factors including economic mismanagement, supply shortages, and regulatory changes that have removed price caps on essential goods.
How are Cuban citizens coping with food shortages?
Many Cubans rely on aid from family abroad or state-sponsored food distributions. Others turn to bartering or purchasing from black markets at higher prices.
What changes have contributed to the rising price of oil in Cuba?
The rise in oil prices can be attributed to a regulatory change by the Ministry of Finance and Prices, which lifted previous limits on the retail price of imported cooking oil.