Print On Demand Group celebrates 35 years in business

THE PRINTING and packaging industry in TT has long been labelled cut-throat, with a reputation for undercutting competitors and poaching skilled workers.

So when Business Day asked Print on Demand managing director Fareeda Hosein, in a recent interview, about the industry’s reputation, her answer seemed to lend credence.

“Over 270 printing and packaging companies in a population of 1.4 million,” she said. “Think about that.”

Undercutting and swooping in on rivals’ workers are some of the tactics competitors apply to gain an edge in an oversaturated industry.

Hosein, celebrating 35 years in the business, sat down with Business Day at her office on Tragarete Road, Port of Spain last week to talk about her successes and difficulties navigating the Print On Demand group of companies.

Despite challenges facing the printing and packaging industry for decades, Hosein said the only things that threatened any of her companies were catastrophic periods in TT’s history three decades apart, and at least one delinquent customer in between.

The primary reason is relatively simple, she said.

“We constantly change and move with technology, so we’re always one step ahead of whatever competition.”

Hosein, armed with a diploma in agriculture and experience in graphic design, opened Darkroom Designs, a prepress design and film separation company, on Alexandra Street, St Clair, in 1989, before moving to Tragarete Road a year later.

Darkroom Designs is part of the Print on Demand Group, which Hosein formed after opening its better-known namesake Print On Demand in 2000 and iWave Enterprises in 2008.

Print On Demand introduced commercial digital offset printing to the Caribbean when Hosein acquired the HP Indigo 1000, a massive six-colour printer, with substantial other investments to follow. iWave Enterprises specialises in gift cards, wrapping paper and packaging, all designed and produced in-house.

The group has only nine staff, with a few artists and production workers who work part-time or freelance.

The three businesses are run from an unassuming red building a stone’s throw from French Street.

Hosein's ventures have grabbed headlines over the years, which are proudly displayed in her office.

On entry, customers are greeted by the company’s proudest samples. Little room is spared by the decades-old crafty promotional memorabilia that, though slightly faded, might well impress today’s advertising agencies.

Many designs were done by Hosein herself or her cadre of graphic artists. The most intricate projects sometimes took a combination of the best in the business.Collaboration has always been a feature of the industry, Hosein explained.In the mid-2000s POD partnered with Label House to print scratch-off cards for a three-year Benson & Hedges advertising campaign.

“It’s only something we could have printed,” Hosein said, adding that the campaign exemplified POD’s ability to give customers exactly what they wanted.

Their model, she said, "was certainly not only about printing. It’s always been about finding a solution and providing advice down the line.”

Hosein said she attended enough trade shows to keep herself ahead of the local game by taking stock of the newest trends.

She explained she had intended to follow a similar path to her father, a lecturer in agriculture, and teach in the field.

In the interim, she worked as a graphic designer at Media Graphics in San Juan.

“Somewhere along the line, I got the call to come in and teach agricultural science at Toco Composite (now Toco Secondary),” she said. “But I turned it down because I enjoyed this job so much.

“I enjoyed the creativity that came with graphics. It lent the photography aspect, the pre-press part. I turned down a job that paid twice as much as I was earning.”

Hosein learnt everything she could in four years, then decided to invest everything in a similar venture in Port of Spain.

“In 1989, my sister came forth with part of the investment. She helped me a lot. At that point, I sold the car” – a Toyota Corolla, for $20,000 – to raise sufficient capital.

At 23, she resigned and opened Darkroom Designs.

But it was only a few months until her first real brush with failure and a test of character.

“The business was in the developing stages. It was a year old, and yes, we had customers coming in and things were looking good – but suddenly this (attempted) coup happens.”

She worried about the chaos on the streets and the existential threat to her business.“My brother who lived in the US told me to come up if I could.“But all my loans were still there, so I was there thinking about the business, my suppliers, what’s going to happen.”

Fast-forward 30 years and the group of companies was treading on thin ice again, Hosein said, when printing was not initially listed among the essential services that could remain open in the early stages of the covid19 pandemic.

“It’s a job of overnights,” and particularly constrained by a curfew, she explained.

But it appeared neither threatened them as much as the nature of the industry itself.

“Print runs on credit. When you give people 30 days, they don’t take 30 days. When you invoice in the first week of March, you’re not getting paid until the end of April.

"And these are private companies. The government takes much longer, stretching three-six months to get your payment...

"When you give out a large amount of credit, you have overheads and things that must be paid at the end of every month.”

The business must always have enough funds to pay salaries and other overheads.To sell a custom or value-added product, she said, it must first be able to pay for its raw materials.

At one point the group almost went under when one of Darkroom Design’s biggest clients since it opened, an advertising agency, went into receivership.

It was another test of character.“I started young, but this career toughened me up. I had to get real – not nice sometimes. I had to be strong.”

The industry's dynamics have seen rapid changes over the years. It is largely seasonal, with the bulk of business coming around the end of the financial year and around Christmas.

"Carnival used to be a busy time for us. We would sell lots of (fete) tickets. All that is now digital, so Carnival isn’t (particularly busy any more).

"Credit unions, banks, and conglomerates, all used to print annual reports in the hundreds to tens of thousands – a costly and labour-intensive undertaking that nevertheless brought big business to many print companies around the country."

But the demand for physical annual reports dropped almost completely, especially as remote meetings became the norm during the pandemic. A job requiring thousands of prints now requires about a dozen, in most cases.

She said the food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries are keeping the printing and packaging industry alive.

Hosein said she has done her part to improve the industry and find solutions to the shortage of skilled workers by serving on a Cabinet-appointed, now-defunct Printing and Packaging Industry Council (PPIC).

The demand for press operators and other skilled workers increased after the closure of the John Donaldson Technical Institute, leading to a tug-of-war between rival print companies.

One of the council’s mandates was to find a solution to the shortage of skilled workers in the industry. The council put together courses, tried to revamp a printing school, and even acquired equipment, all apparently in vain.

“The print industry was one of the pillars identified for development under the Manning administration, and the PPIC was born. The UNC regime continued the council’s work, but when they lost the election and the Rowley administration came in, they disbanded the council. (It’s) all political.

“The buck stopped when they decided to disband the council,” Hosein said. “It was a political decision, and the school never got off the ground.”

And now, she said, “It’s back to a cut-throat business, with people stealing each other’s staff.”

Hosein nevertheless said she has enjoyed her career more with each passing year.

She still holds onto memories, armed with hundreds of samples and pieces of one state-of-the-art piece of technology that paid for itself countless times.

She is now semi-retired, leaving many of her old duties to her niece, operations manager Natasha Laban, with her nephew Chris Springer in charge of the die-cut, printers and all machinery in between. Hosein praised Laban and Springer, both of whom have been with the company for over 20 years.

Hosein also acknowledged her sister Sherry Springer, who gave her a loan to raise capital to open Darkroom Designs. She helped raise Springer’s two children, including Chris, when her husband died in an accident.

She thanked her supportive parents, current and former workers, and suppliers who extended more than the 30-day customary credit.

Her three brothers, one of whom is now deceased, all helped her on her journey, either introducing her to photography or helping her renovate the building she now owns on Tragarete Road.

In celebration of its Darkroom’s 35th anniversary, the staff participated in an all-day retreat at the Asa Wright Nature Centre.

The staff adopted the theme “nurture the nature” and chose the venue to reflect their “commitment to and passion for one of the most important ecosystems on the planet – coral reefs, ‘rainforests of the sea.’

Coral is the symbol associated with 35-year anniversaries.

"Focused on outstanding customer service, high-quality output and unsurpassed delivery deadlines," Fareeda said she looks toward the future with excitement and optimism, and encourage everyone to do their part to nurture and protect the environment.