On Friday, October 16, AML Foods reopened its renovated store in Hooper's Bay. It is bigger than the company's George Town market, and it brings back the butcher counter people on the island had asked for. It also launched a rewards program the company believes may be the only one on Exuma, The Tribune reported. Great Exuma's weekly shop now has two large stores run by the same company. The larger floor changes where you buy groceries. What you pay is still set by shipping, customs and tax before anything reaches the shelf, and the company's own people said as much on opening day.
How Prime Island Meats & Deli Became the New Hooper's Bay Store
The store wasn't built from scratch. It had been Prime Island Meats & Deli for years, a Kemp family business, and the handover took most of 2026:
- November 2025. AML signed one agreement to buy Prime Island's operating business and a second to buy the land and building from its owners.
- January 23, 2026. AML announced the deal publicly. CEO Gavin Watchorn said the company planned to "build upon the strong legacy established by the Kemp family." The store would keep a full-service butcher shop, and a remodel was planned for the summer.
- April 24, 2026. Both deals closed. AML's fourth-quarter financial report puts the price at $1.9 million for the business and $0.9 million for the land and building.
- April 25, 2026. The store opened the next day as Exuma Markets Hoopers Bay.
- October 16, 2026. The renovated store opened.
The store's name depends on who you ask. AML's own filings use Exuma Markets Hoopers Bay, and its Exuma Markets page carries a video titled "Hoopers Bay Location Now Open!" The Tribune's opening-day story called it the company's second Solomon's on Exuma. Locals may simply keep calling it by its location.
The Tribune lists Harbour Island, Eleuthera and now Exuma among the Family Islands where AML has expanded.
What the Renovation Added
Speaking to The Tribune, AML vice-president Renea Bastian named three changes: more floor space, the full Solomon's range of products, and the butcher.
"It's a much bigger store than the Georgetown location. We will have the loyalty programme. I think that would be the only one on the island... the butcher shop that's now back. I know a lot of Exumians were asking about that."
AML committed to keeping a full-service butcher shop on site in its first announcement in January, and Bastian said residents had asked for its return. Points earned on each visit can be redeemed later, a type of program that Bastian believes no other grocer on the island offers.
AML's contact page lists the Hooper's Bay store at 242-336-3629. The hours it showed earlier this year were Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sunday. A call ahead will confirm whether those hours changed with the renovation.
Two Exuma Markets, Two Different Jobs
With a second big store on the island, it's clearer what each one is for. The George Town store on Queens Highway describes itself as serving locals, cruising boaters and visitors. It has a dinghy dock, reverse-osmosis water, personal shopping and provisioning services, and weekly deliveries of fresh eggs, milk, fruit and vegetables. It also opens on Sundays. AML lists its hours as Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hooper's Bay offers the butcher, the larger floor and the rewards program. A meat run and a provisioning run used to mean two kinds of store. Now they are two locations of the same company.
The independent stores are still there too. The table below sets the two AML stores beside the independents listed in the Exuma Quest shopping guide.
| Store | Where | What it offers |
|---|---|---|
| Exuma Markets Hoopers Bay | Hooper's Bay | Larger floor, butcher counter, rewards program |
| Exuma Markets | Queens Highway, George Town | Dinghy dock, RO water, provisioning, Sunday hours |
| Smitty's Groceries & Convenience | Queens Highway, Hooper's Bay | Groceries with an attached liquor store |
| Shop Rite Market | Queens Highway, George Town | Groceries, open into the evening Monday to Saturday |
| 242 Prime Spirits | Circle Drive, downtown, before Exuma Markets | Wine and spirits, short Sunday hours |
The same guide notes that grocery shipments from Nassau are due every Monday, weather permitting. That makes early in the week the best time for fresh produce, whichever store you use.
The Price on the Shelf Is Set Before It Lands
Most of what sets an Exuma grocery price happens before the goods arrive. In the same Tribune interview, Bastian walked through what happens to a product between a U.S. supplier and an Exuma shelf:
- Freight to Nassau. She put shipping from the U.S. to Nassau at about 30 percent of the goods' cost.
- Customs duty. This is charged on top of the freight.
- The VAT change. The government stopped charging VAT on grocery food on April 1, 2026, so stores no longer collect it, and they can no longer recover the VAT they pay on their own costs.
- The last leg. Moving goods from Nassau to a Family Island adds another cost. Shipping direct from the U.S. to the Family Islands runs about 50 percent, she said, before customs or VAT.
The VAT point explains a lot. According to the government's March 12 announcement, the relief covers unprepared grocery food and excludes meals sold hot or ready to eat. The amending bill lists that food under "Exempt Supplies." Under an exemption, shoppers pay no VAT on those items, and the store can't reclaim VAT on its own costs. Under zero-rating, the store could. In its 2026 annual report, AML estimates that several recent policy changes, the exempt classification among them, could add up to $4.5 million a year to its operating costs. This is general information, not tax or financial advice. Business owners on the island should check how the rule applies to them with their own accountant.
AML says it is trying to keep prices down. Bastian described negotiating with suppliers and shipping lines, filling containers fully to spread freight costs, and looking at cheaper private-label products. She also said some items are simply too expensive to stock: "if it's just cost prohibitive, we can't bring it in."
The November 8 Surcharge
Freight costs rise again next month. Tropical Shipping has announced a higher fuel surcharge on cargo between the continental U.S. or Canada and The Bahamas, starting November 8, 2026. On a 20-foot dry container, the surcharge rises from $225 to $250. On a 40-foot container, it rises from $450 to $500. Rates for refrigerated containers are going up as well, which raises the cost of moving temperature-sensitive goods. The Tribune noted that higher freight charges raise the landed cost of imported groceries, and each store decides whether to absorb that or pass it on.
The surcharge takes effect 23 days after the Hooper's Bay reopening. From November 8, every refrigerated container Tropical Shipping carries from the U.S. or Canada into The Bahamas carries a higher surcharge.
Mack Altidor tracks how island errands like this one work, from Monday shipments to what stays in stock through the season. If you are spending the winter on Great Exuma or planning a longer stay, The Altidor Collection can help with the details. Discover the Collection and contact Mack for private access.
