Agri-entrepreneurs see hope to grow, export in Caricom

Agricultural entrepreneurs are hopeful of attracting more interest, and investment, in there products coming out of last weekend's Agri-Investment Forum and Expo.

Several exhibitors who had booths at the Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain on Sunday are on board with Caricom’s plan to reduce the food import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.

Regina King, founder and CEO of King's Speciality, said, “Just seeing all these people coming out to see what TT and the Caribbean has to offer, generally enjoying, tasting, hearing them say they never knew TT had this amount of creativity – that we don’t lack talent – that was the greatest part of it.”

King has been involved in producing aromatic liqueurs made from local vegetables, spices and fruits, influenced by her mother and grandmother.

“This has been such a wonderful experience," she said.

Florence Murray-Joseph, founder of Flo Joe’s in Diego Martin, is a pigeon peas connoisseur, experimenting with the legume to churn out a line of healthy products, demonstrating it can be used for more than just pelau.

Pigeon peas are rich in proteins, minerals, vitamins and lipids, and Murray-Joseph has mastered the art of making pigeon peas ice cream, black cakes, rum cakes, bread, muffins, juice drinks, wines, liqueur, punch, pastelles, pizza, doubles, coco pois – an indigenous blend of coo coo with pigeon peas.

Her innovative products have feared well at the farmers markets at Macoya ad SAPA, but Murray-Joseph said the expo's exposure may have given her the impetus to get her products on grocery shelves, locally and abroad.

A native of St Vincent, Luke George, who is now settled in Arima, has established the agro-processing company Growise Fresh Farms Ltd.

“My business is agro-processing, I make about 12 different products. I also make chocolates,” said George who specialises in grow boxes on wheels, salad packs, soil mix and landscaping.

His main aim, however, is to rehabilitate the banana industry in Trinidad and Tobago using macro-propagation techniques.

“We don’t have to go outside of TT to St Vincent, St Lucia, Grenada, Dominican Republic or Suriname for bananas. We can have a thriving industry right here. I am trying to engage as many farmers as possible in the project to re-establish the banana industry so we can make a dent in the huge import bill of fresh fruits in TT.”

From the resourceful banana, Growise has created new businesses, using every part of the tree and fruit.

“We have created banana fibre, we are making paper out of the banana tree. We have created banana power, banana flour from the green bananas and banana cereals from the ripe fruit,” George said.

Among his speciality products is the "Vincy influenced" callaloo soup pack, which just requires hot water to bring to a boil. It is already seasoned, he said, but individuals can add meat, crab, pig tail, smoked bones to make it their signature dish.

“It is ideal for bachelors or the working woman, or to take on a beach and river lime.”

Packaged by Namdevco, George said the product is already on the shelves of supermarkets Xtra Foods and Massy Stores and will soon be out in the wider region.

“The product has been doing well on the local market, but this agri-forum has created a new lease on life and dimension because a lot of people did not know about it.

“They were shocked to know we have a product like this here, so hopefully, sales will improve on the local market.”

Future plans include exporting to the diaspora markets in Tortola, Canada and Miami where many West Indians reside, he said.

“I have had consultations with supermarkets in Tortola so, hopefully, within the next couple of months I will begin exporting there.”

Emerging as the 2016 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year TT has buoyed Market Movers and its line of Farm & Function Fruition blends of local fruits.

For partners David Thomas and Rachel Renie the journey which began in 2009 has been a labour of love.

What started as an online green grocer, has now transformed into a brick and mortar business at Barataria and San Juan, with a brand that can stand alongside any imported product in terms of packaging, content, taste, nutritional value and price.

Their motto “will work for food” was emblazoned on the t-shirts directors and employees wore, and which were also for sale at the expo.

Displaying their products, Thomas spoke about their venture into packaging local fruits such as paw paw, pineapple, guava, passion fruit, mango, using the blast frozen technique to seal in all the freshness and nutrients.

Available in most of the major supermarkets, Farm & Function has made a breakthrough in the Barbadian and Dominican markets and the focus is now on exploring both Guyana and Grenada.

“Our brand is really Caribbean, from the flavours to the vibrant, colourful packaging. The target is really to preserve the Caribbean way of life.

“We would like to see the brand more recognised as we compete with more familiar, foreign brands. We want people to really support local products, go back to eating local fruits, which goes back to helping local farmers because our passion is really into boosting local agriculture production.”

While its focus has been on food, Market Movers has seen the need to diversify into other food-related downstream initiatives, such as a food design company specialising in logos, t-shirts and packaging.

“We want to move away from putting products in a plastic bag with just a sticker. The idea is to make the package look good, so when you see our products on the shelves, you cannot tell the difference between a local and imported product.”

As a result of the expo, Thomas said, “We got a lot of notice. We have been doing a lot of work in the background, but through this expo, people noticed we are a viable company.

“The turnout was tremendous. We got some good sales. It was good to meet and interact with some of our customers and for our customers to meet and interact with us. The exposure for the brand has been really good.”

Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Minister Kazim Hosein, who Business Day met at the expo, said the door is now wide open to opportunities to achieve regional food security.

Hosein said he and a contingent from his ministry, including Minister Avinash Singh, were visiting every booth to thank the exhibitors for choosing to display their products and cutting-edge technology aimed to transform the sector through innovation and investment.

“Now is the time to get on the field and do the work.”

He said he intends to do a follow-up and interact with stakeholders to achieve the goals set to significantly reduce the food import bill, for consumption habits to change, and for people to eat what they grow.

“From here onward, we are going to meet with all the stakeholders in the whole agri-industry. We are going to meet personally with the farmers, everybody involved in this industry.

“We will meet with them, listen to them to develop a sustainable industry not only for TT, but the Caricom region,” he assured.

Given the short space of time to plan the event, after visiting the first expo in Guyana with the Prime Minister in May, Hosein said people he interacted with were impressed with what TT and the wider Caribbean had to offer and were looking forward to the next event.

“Given the short space of time to plan it, it worked well.”

Minister in the ministry Avinash Singh said he was most impressed with the appeal of the agri-sector to young people. At many of the booths, young people were in the forefront, demonstrating products and explaining the concepts and technology used to modernise the sector.

A farmer himself, Singh said, “I am happy to see so many young people actively participating in the agricultural future of TT.”