Mission Mercal

Missions of the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela
Food, Housing & Medicine
Education
Indigenous Rights, Land & Environment
Leaders

Mission Mercal, officially launched on 24 April 2003 is a Bolivarian Mission established in Venezuela under the government of Hugo Chávez. The Mission involves a state-run company called Mercados de Alimentos, C.A. (MERCAL), which provides subsidised food and basic goods through a nationwide chain of stores.

Mission Mercal stores and cooperatives are mostly located in impoverished areas and sell generic-branded foods at discounts as great as 50%. While the company is heavily funded by the government, the goal was to become self-sufficient by replacing food imports with products from local farmers, small businesses, and cooperatives (many of whom have received microcredits from Mercal).

Since at least 2014, customers have said that there is a lack of products in Mercal stores and that items available at these stores change constantly.[1] Some customers complained about rationing being enforced at Mercal stores due to the lack of products.[2]

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