Mission Mercal

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).

[1] Some customers complained about rationing being enforced at Mercal stores due to the lack of products.

[3] In 2010 Mercal was reported as having 16,600 outlets, "ranging from street-corner shops to huge warehouse stores," in addition to 6000 soup kitchens.

[1] Customers also complained about rationing being enforced at Mercal stores due to the lack of products.