The plan, to give access to staple products at lower prices, was announced four days after the 7th Congress of the Communist Party, which revised the market-oriented reforms set out five years ago.

In 2011, the government decided to place a specific emphasis on co-operatives as a means to decentralise the Cuban economy from state-owned enterprises to citizen-controlled co-ops. However, it is estimated that only a fifth of the reforms announced then have been implemented. Only 22 new co-ops were created last year in sectors other than agriculture.