Fuel Shortage in Cuba Affects SuperMarket23
The e-commerce business, SuperMarket23, known for selling essential items, particularly food, at exorbitant prices for Cubans, has notified its customers that the fuel shortage – which the government attributes to supplier delays – is impacting their home delivery service.
Upon accessing the store’s website, users encounter a message indicating that, due to the temporary shortage of fuel, new orders will not be accepted for the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Granma, Camagüey, Holguín, Las Tunas, Sancti Spíritus, Guantánamo, Cienfuegos, and Villa Clara.
The message further states that all orders already placed for these provinces will be delivered as usual. The delivery service will be restored as soon as the fuel shortage situation improves, they explain. For now, some dairy products remain available for delivery to the municipality of Santa Clara.
The fuel crisis, which has worsened since April, has led to long lines at the country’s gas stations, has disrupted transportation, and has forced the government to regulate the sale of fuel to private drivers.
SuperMarket23, linked to the famous guerrilla fighter Guillermo García Frías, a prominent figure in the Cuban regime, is just one of over 20 similar businesses that sell products to emigrants for their relatives in Cuba, products that are usually not available in the island’s physical stores.
Other similar companies have not indicated delivery restrictions, but all warn visitors to their online platforms that only the products that can be delivered to the selected province and municipality are displayed, depending on the logistics of each place.
For instance, Alawao, which guarantees deliveries in Havana in less than 24 hours, is hiring owners of electric motorcycles to make deliveries, something they announced on their social networks as the fuel crisis was intensifying.
Meanwhile, Katapulk, led by Cuban-American Hugo Cancio, with close ties to the Havana government, continues to make deliveries in selected municipalities of 15 Cuban provinces.
Their business has grown in recent months and now includes the sale of luxury cars imported to the island.
Online stores offer both local and imported products, from dairy to meat, which, according to the Havana government, are not available in physical stores due to the embargo. However, these products are available to those who make their purchases from abroad, paying in foreign currency and with deliveries across almost the entire national territory.
