Pre-packaged doubles now in El Socorro

A gas station in the El Socorro area is now selling pre-packaged doubles. The Cyrus Road gas station launched the product on Wednesday and customers are already lining up.

The doubles are being made and packaged by Richard and Kim Clarke of Big Boyz Tasty Doubles, who usually sell at Fatima grounds in Mucurapo. They retail for $25 for four doubles in a pack, accompanied by sweet tamarind sauce, chadon beni, pepper, kuchela and roasted pepper.

The small family business is run by Kim Clarke and a six-person staff, who make the doubles at their Kelly Village home. Her husband Richard assists with promoting and marketing. Richard said he was thankful for the opportunity to “make an honest dollar during a time like this.” He said because of the uncertainty of how long the pandemic will last, he was grateful for the support from the station.

General manager of the station Alan Cabral said 50 packages were delivered to the station on Wednesday, which sold out shortly after it opened at 6 am.

Because of the high demand, the team decided to increase stock on Thursday to about 100-120 packages on Thursday, which also sold out about an hour after delivery. The packages come in two batches at 6 am and 9 am. The station will supply 200 packages on Friday.

“We will keep increasing until we find our sweet spot,” said Cabral.

Cabral said the idea came up in a meeting about a month ago, when he and his team discussed having a doubles man permanently on the premises.

Because of the restrictions on street vendors, they discussed selling pre-packaged doubles during the lockdown.

“In any business, you have to strategise to bring in revenue,” he said.

Cabral was hesitant to move forward with the idea, unsure if the current regulations would allow them to sell the popular street food in that way. In the meantime, St Christopher’s Station on Wrightson Road, Port of Spain,went ahead with the same idea.

Marketing co-ordinator for the El Socorro station Nicolette Betaudier said initially, they wanted to launch on Monday, but on realising St Christopher’s Station had been visited by police who shut down the sale of pre-packaged doubles, they postponed until they got the go-ahead from Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith. Griffith later apologised for the “error” of stopping the sale of the doubles on Monday afternoon.

“We not here to fight,” said Cabral. He said he is friends with the St Christopher’s team and supports their business.

Cabral said once restrictions are lifted for street food vendors, the team plans to have Big Boyz permanently on the premises for early-morning customers, with the option of pre-packaged doubles for customers coming in later in the morning.