"Even routine shipments have taken on new significance for Thilo Schmitz including the one currently at sea. A freighter carrying glutenfree pasta is en route from Panama to La Guaira, the "gateway to Venezuela," a Caribbean port just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Caracas. The fiveday journey is being followed closely, as this niche product is currently selling better in Schmitz's supply chain than ever before."
"'In recent days, pasta shelves across Venezuela have been virtually emptied,' the GermanVenezuelan entrepreneur told DW. 'Everything is sold out, including ours even though our pasta is three times the price.' The long lines that formed outside Venezuelan supermarkets in early January, as people stocked up on essentials amid the prevailing uncertainty following the removal of President Nicolas Maduro by the United States, provided Schmitz with a bit of breathing room."
"It is normally a crisisproof business: Six million Venezuelan schoolchildren always need notebooks, pencils and calculators. But in the current situation with the country's future uncertain after the shift in power from Nicolas Maduro to interim President Delcy Rodriguez an impoverished population is far more likely to spend its limited money on glutenfree pasta than on a pair of scissors."
Routine shipments have acquired new significance for Thilo Schmitz as a freighter carrying gluten-free pasta sails from Panama to La Guaira near Caracas. The five-day journey is tracked closely because the niche product is selling better in his supply chain than ever. Pasta shelves across Venezuela have been virtually emptied and everything is sold out despite the product being three times the price. Long lines formed outside supermarkets in early January as people stocked up on essentials amid uncertainty after the removal of President Nicolas Maduro by the United States. Schmitz's business, originally selling school and office supplies, now sees demand shift toward food. He expects short-term stability and anticipates few street protests.
Read at www.dw.com
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