www.lifhaus.com.sb

Competition is well and truly active in the rice industry.  Many Solomon Islanders and Lifhaus included were quietly watching as events unfolded and now reports reaching Lifhaus confirm that for the first time in many months, Solrais has dropped its prices significantly.  A regular Lifhaus contributor reported that "I was stunned when the shopkeeper informed me that the bag of 20 Kg Solrais was $165.00."  Lifhaus has yet to independently verify this latest find but it would seem like finally Solrais is responding to the influx of alternative rice strands in the country.

"I can now findly concede that competition is here in the Solomon Islands.  When we introduced competition in the airline industry, not many people felt its effects because not very many of us travel any way.  But rice is something I buy almost every 2 weeks and to suddenly see the significant drop in the price of one owing to competition is certainly a testament of what competition can do."

Solrais is clearly responding to the slashed prices and quality of the different strands of Calrose rice now being sold in the market.  The best Calrose strand is distributed by Aba Corporation out of Chinatown.  "That rice was the best of everyone, unfortunately, it is very difficult to find it and some have said that retailers have run out of stock.  I certainly hope Aba will continue to import that rice."

By Lifhaus's count there are at least 5 different strands of rice in the country.  "Some of these rice strands proudly display labels such as 'premium grade', 'AA' etc and they have certainly lived up to expectation".

Some commentators have already focused on the benefits of competition in the telecommunications industry.  Speaking with Lifhaus, a regular Our Telekom customer said "the latest story out of PNG is that bemobile is now performing at a higher standard since Digicel arrived.  So Our Telekom is in for some tough competition.  However, I am still waiting to buy my 3G handset when Our Telekom launches their new network."

If the competition in the rice industry is anything to go by then Solomon Islanders are certainly in for a treat when competition finally takes a grip in the telecommunication industry and other sectors of society that need improvement.