Business opportunities for the Caribbean
THE expected influx of over a million visitors to Ontario for the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games, one of the world’s largest international multisport events, will provide opportunities for Caribbean vendors and suppliers to capitalise on this huge captive audience to showcase and sell Caribbean products and services.
The Games in July-August, 2015, will attract over 8,000 athletes from 41 North American, South American, Caribbean and Latin American nations, who will be housed in the newly-constructed Toronto Pan American Athletes Village located at the heart of the games on an 80-acre site next to the Don River in Toronto’s waterfront district.
At a recent Canada-CARICOM Trade Development Forum in Mississauga that I attended, it was suggested that there are good business prospects for Caribbean entrepreneurs during the two-week event. However, some of the areas mentioned such as telecommunications, coaching and medical services are not feasible.
Director of Procurement for the Games, Bill Zakarow has acknowledged that there may be opportunities for Caribbean businesses to participate in the bidding process in areas such as food services, construction, cultural events, provision of team clothing, and promotional merchandise.
At the Pan American Village, meals have to be provided for the 8,000 plus athletes. The food has to reflect a mix of various cultures. Large companies likely to win the bid to manage the provision of meals will sub contract to various suppliers. Caribbean restaurant and food producers should watch for such opportunities.
Food suppliers will have to have the capacity to meet the demands for quantity, quality and stringent food safety standards. A major focus will be service, particularly on-time delivery. The Request for Proposals (RFP) for food services is expected to be early in 2014.
Outside of the games venue, Caribbean businesses are well placed to expand their food offerings during the four-week period of the games, since visitors to the event will be visiting downtown Toronto for meals, entertainment and shopping.
Think Caribana for four weeks. The vendors who churn out large volumes of curry and roti, jerk chicken, peas and rice and doubles for the Caribana crowd need to gear up for this much longer event that has the potential to generate substantial revenue for them.
Those established Caribbean businesses in the downtown core also need to gear up for this occasion and do special advertising to get the attention of the visitors to the games.
As construction for the games continues, construction workers, electricians and plumbers will be needed. Construction on the Games Athletes Village has begun and the aquatic centre and stadium are next.
Cultural events to entertain the athletes and visitors will also be part of the programme and here again there might be opportunities for Caribbean artistes to provide some entertainment during this cultural festival. Caribbean entertainers should try to tap into this opportunity to show off the region’s amazing talent.
The 20,000 volunteers on hand will need to be outfitted (tee shirts, shorts and hats). Caribbean garment producers may want to consider whether they are equipped for this opportunity and want to participate in the bid for signature games outfits. The bidding for this is expected to be late 2013 to mid-2014.
Zakarow noted that the games organizers have placed diversity high on the agenda for this event. The broad base of suppliers must include SMEs(small-medium enterprises) of which at least 51% must be owned and operated by aboriginal peoples, women, individuals of multi-cultural heritage, and individuals with disabilities.
The selection criteria for the procurement process include the total cost of ownership, availability of goods and services, quality, innovative solutions, capabilities and experience, diversity and financial strength.
For bids of up to $10,000, a supplier database will be used and quotations obtained from selected suppliers. A minimum of three suppliers will be considered for bids between $10,000 and $100,000, which will be “invitational competitive” and involve the use of the supplier database, a supplier listing from the Canadian electronic tendering service MERX, market research and the procurement opportunity will be posted on the TO2015 website. For projects or services over $100,000, the bidding process will be “Competitive open”, posted on MERX and the TO2015 website.
The games organizing committee has implemented a “supplier diversity” strategy that will enable diverse businesses in the Southern Ontario region to participate in business opportunities. Total business procurement opportunities are approximately $400M over the next four years. To date, 17 % of those funds have been allocated. Businesses owned by visible minorities account for 14 % of this.
Zakarow advised that Caribbean companies should proactively promote their products by registering on the official games website www.toronto2015.org. To keep on top of what projects are available for bidding, CARICOM producers, service providers and entertainers should look for posted opportunities on MERX.
In order to attract the best athletes, games officials are aiming to increase the number of sports disciplines that will be used as pre-qualifiers for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. There were 12 such disciplines in the 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Olympic Bid Committee Chairman, former Ontario Premier David Peterson, reminded me recently of the Caribbean’s interest in the Pan Am games highlighted during his visit to Guyana last year to promote Canada’s bid for the 2015 Games. Games officials are keen to attract top-notch Caribbean athletes such as three-time Olympic gold medalist Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.
West Indians in Toronto and Caribbean visitors, some of whom will be accompanying our Caribbean athletes from the 15 member countries of CARICOM, will be a ready market for our Toronto-based businesses.

Organisations such as Caribbean Export and the recently resuscitated Canada-Caribbean Business Council have indicated their commitment to help Caribbean entrepreneurs take advantage of the sizeable financial and marketing opportunities that will present themselves in the run-up to the Pan Am Games. The planning needs to start now. (Sandra is a business consultant and Specialist in Caribbean Affairs).