By NEIL HARTNELL
TRIBUNE Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
GRAND Bahama concrete suppliers yesterday demanded an “urgent” probe into their claims of unfair market competition and predatory pricing by a US-owned rival that threatens to “smash us to pieces”.
Glennett Fowler, founder and group president of the Heroic Group, which includes Heroic Concrete & Concrete Products, told Tribune Business she and others fear the pricing practices of Del Zotto Products of The Bahamas, the former Gold Rock Corporation, will “disenfranchise” Bahamian-owned businesses if allowed to continue.
Challenging how Del Zotto Products is selling concrete blocks at prices up to one-third lower than Heroic and other competitors, even though they source their raw materials from the same providers and supply chain, she voiced concern that it may be exploiting its US ties and other unknown advantages to “undercut” Bahamian rivals and drive them out of the market.
Ms Fowler told this newspaper that, if this is the goal, Grand Bahama contractors, developers and other industries reliant on concrete-related products could ultimately face major price hikes in the medium to long-term if just “one major supplier” is left serving the entire island.
And she renewed calls for the Davis administration, to do as it pledged in its 2026 election campaign manifesto, and enact a competition or antitrust law that would prevent the unfair practices that Heroic and other Bahamian-owned concrete suppliers on Grand Bahama are now alleging and complaining about.
Ms Fowler, who denied she is opposed to competition, asserted that “we’re all for that” and instead argued that her priority is for all Bahamian companies to have “a level playing field” so they can battle US and other foreign rivals fairly.
She was backed by Washington Smith, president of Smith Construction Company, who signalled to Tribune Business that he “can’t make any money” at the prices Del Zotto Products are offering and only sold “one load” last week. He added that this was squeezing the company to the point where it has no choice but to close.
Tribune Business was unable to obtain comment and response from Del Zotto Products of The Bahamas prior to press time last night, as phone messages left for senior executives and e-mails were not responded to.
However, Ms Fowler said Del Zotto Products: “It’s the pricing. Since they reopened we believe their intention has been to make us unstable… to destabilise the market by these lower prices.”
While companies decreasing prices to obtain greater market share, surprise rivals or for some other corporate goal is a well-established tactic, the Heroic president argued that - in this case - it was impossible for competitors to match the Del Zotto Products prices and remain commercially and financially viable themselves even though all use the same raw materials suppliers.
Besides cement from Cemex, Ms Fowler argued that Grand Bahama-based concrete producers also obtained aggregate from the same source - formerly Bahama Rock, and now another Freeport supplier. “We can’t figure out how to do it ourselves as we buy from the same cement provider and aggregate,” she explained. “The same components make up everyone’s product.
“What we’re trying to understand, if all of us have the same supply chain, is that if concessions are being made to a foreign entity we want the same concessions as well…. I believe that if we’re going to have foreign-backed companied here competing in the same retail and wholesale space we should have the same advantages.”
Del Zotto Products, which is owned by a Florida-based family of the same name, has a colourful recent history on Grand Bahama. Operating under the name Gold Rock Corporation, they abruptly shut down the concrete manufacturing business, as well as their hardware store and furniture and home centre in 2022, amid a furious public row with the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA).
The two sides traded accusations of “spite” and “harassment” in an extraordinary spat, which saw Gold Rock and the Del Zottos brand the GBPA as “the leaders of the most grossly under-performing island in The Bahamas. They asserted at the time they would “not be cornered, pushed or strong-armed” in negotiations with its affiliates for a new aggregate supply contract.
The spark for the dispute appeared to be talks with the Grand Bahama Development Company (DevCO) for a new agreement over Gold Rock’s access to aggregate/fill in the former’s Devonshire subdivision that was critical for its ready mix, block and pre-cast concrete products.
DevCO, though, has argued that Gold Rock’s continued monopoly over this source cannot be justified because it had under-performed the previous contract by not taking the stipulated tonnage. However, less than two years later, the Del Zottos were back in business at their 273,204 square foot property at Freeport Light Industrial Park, with the concrete plant returned to operation,
One Freeport source, speaking on condition of anonymity, signalled to Tribune Business their sympathy for Heroic was somewhat tempered by the fact it had entered the Grand Bahama market at least partly in the hope of exploiting and filling the vacuum seemingly left by Gold Rock Corporation’s abrupt exit.
Its departure, though, was short-lived, albeit Gold Rock’s name was changed to Del Zotto Products of The Bahamas upon the 2024 re-opening. “They came back in and undercut everyone on their price. Everyone went back to them the moment they dropped their price,” the source said of the Del Zottos’ return.
But Ms Fowler, pledging that “we will not be bullied any longer”, challenged: “Why do we sit here in Freeport if something’s wrong and say nothing?” She challenged the discrepancy between the “almost under $2” per concrete block price that Del Zotto Products has been unable to achieve with the “almost $3” cost that the rest of the market produces.
“Now they are selling at the same price you purchase blocks for in the Dominican Republic,” the Heroic chief added. “People have called me asking: How is that possible? I can’t speak to how it’s possible. But pre-2024, it was fine. All companies were competing, had a fair price in the market and were able to sell.”
Now, to avoid “handing in the keys”, Ms Fowler said Heroic is exploring entry into other market segments to “sustain the company”, including partnering with contractors to create a construction “ecosystem to support projects in a direct way” such as building homes.
“Freeport is under enough strain, and we are allowing this to transpire right there in our faces,” she continued, adding that she has written several letters to the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), as Freeport’s licensing authority, urging that the situation be addressed but no action appears to have been taken. It is also unclear whether the GBPA has any power to address the matter.
“It’s not about competition,” Ms Fowler told Tribune Business. “We’re all for that. It’s about a level playing field with Bahamian companies having the ability to compete with US-backed companies…. It can’t be that Bahamian companies are disenfranchised because a US-backed company smashes us to pieces.
“We are looking for a level playing field and to compete equally. There are ways to compete through quality, service and innovation. Maybe there is a legitimate reason they [Del Zotto Products] can charge that price. The powers that be need to give the locals the same ability to do that. It will benefit our citizens, everyone involved, as it will not be a single entity doing that.”
Ms Fowler said a market where all rivals are driven out to leave just one major supplier dominating will have negative consequences for employment numbers and raw materials providers - not just those pushed out of business. She added that it could also impact developer and investor confidence, plus result in higher concrete prices.
The Heroic president said the impact of Del Zotto Products’ pricing on the wider market started to emerge in 2025 as completion of Carnival’s $600m Celebration Key project drew near. “After that we swiftly decreased the margins to almost break even, but then it was not enough to do that,” Ms Fowler added, saying those enjoying the lower costs could ultimately pay the price later.
She renewed calls for the Government, through Parliament, to pass a Fair Competition Act to deal with unfair practices such as predatory pricing and companies engaging in anti-consumer behaviour by abusing their dominant market position. “I definitely think we should be working on that this fiscal year,” Ms Fowler said.
‘The same way we regulate bread basket items, maybe they need to regulate in other industries.” The Davis administration’s election manifesto pledged to “enact modern competition legislation that bans price-fixing and penalises abuse of market dominance”, and ministers said such a law was being worked on prior to May 2026.
The Bahamas committed to enacting competition and antitrust legislation as part of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) that was sighed more than 15 years ago under the last Ingraham administration, meaning this nation is non-compliant with one of its international obligations.
The legislation was revived briefly under the Minnis administration when it was considering possible accession to full membership in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), only for this to be dropped and competition regulation placed on the shelf again.
Meanwhile, Mr Smith of Smith’s Construction Company, pledging his full support for, and agreement with, Ms Fowler, said: “I haven’t been doing any work for a long time because they [Del Zotto Products] are undercutting their prices to way less than mine. I can’t match them.
“They are way less than mine. I can’t make any money at their price levels but the people are going for the cheaper rates. The whole of last week, I only sent out one load. I am not closing down, but it’s going to force me to close. I have staff working who I have to pay. Where do I get the money from?
“It’s just that they want all the business,” Mr Smith added. “I don’t know if they need all the business because they have other things to survive off. I don’t have anything else. I am only depending on the concrete. They just want all the business for themselves. I think they just want to mash us up. I was thinking about it the other night and said we should all have the same price just about.
“The way it is now, and the price of materials, I don’t think they can make any money with the prices they are charging, but they have other things. I’m not prejudiced but I’m a Bahamian and have nowhere else to go. These guys come in here and do this, but the Bahamian people are trying to save money in their pocket so they are not going to come to me.
“I don’t know how to fix the problem. I don’t know how they [Del Zotto] are doing it except where they may be buying raw materials at a discount or making a profit on other things… The couple of dollars I have on the side in savings I have had to use to pay my staff and we have a lot of overheads in Freeport. People think it’s easy to do business in Freeport but it’s not that easy.”