— following closure of Houston fish plant

By Wendella Davidson

THE pressure on Guyana to be internationally certified in order to access key US and Europe markets is the main factor that has prompted Bruce Vieira, chairman and Managing Director of B.E.V Processors Inc., located at Plantation Houston, East Bank Demerara, to close his business.

According to him, Guyana is still to receive the certification.

“All of the agencies, in particular, the international ones are requesting numerous records and the work has become more difficult and tiring,” he said in an exclusive interview with Guyana Chronicle on Thursday.

The businessman, after having spent 34 years of his life in the fishing and exporting of seafood  business, is currently in the final stages of wrapping up after closing the operations on July 17, 2018, and has hinted that he is considering entering the food business with daughter Natalia, who had been helping him to manage BEV.

Vieira, whose business was considered as this country’s oldest privately-owned fishing company, expressed satisfaction with the successful closure as it relates to the union and workers who were paid a severance package.

The closure saw in excess of 300 persons being placed on the breadline, a situation with which he was not “very comfortable”, but according to him, he has personally been involved in negotiating with sister companies in the business of fishing to help secure employment for the affected individuals.

The fishing business icon said while several of his former employees were successful in gaining employment at Prettipaul Investments, Noble House Seafoods, Quality Seafoods, and Global Seafoods among other places, he is still trying to help others.

He noted that following the July 18 closure last year, he retained about 40 of the employees to assist with some aspects of the operations, that included selling off some 600, 000 pounds of `broken shrimp’ that the company was having difficulty selling.

Vieira, in explaining the difficulty, said that the shrimp is “very fine and have very little application”, and that even after eight months of closing, the company still has some of the product on hand.

But according to him, should all go well, he expects that it would be sold in another couple of weeks to clients in Trinidad and Jamaica with whom he has been dealing some time.

ITEMS TO BE SOLD 

The businessman further disclosed that he has since trimmed the 40 staffers to about 20, pointing out that in addition to still having shrimp, there are still lots of stuff and equipment on hand to sell, such as freezers, packaging supplies, equipment and spares.

“The final 20 staffers will assist in effecting the final shipment and sale of equipment,” he said as he disclosed intentions to keep about eight employees, inclusive of senior staff and skilled personnel like an electrician, a mechanic and drivers, as permanent staff.

“Even though I have relinquished the business, I have a family who would want to get involved in something, so I am looking into the possibility of doing something else, but definitely not in the fishing business.”

On this note, Vieira explained that in a goodwill deal he has entered into with a sister seafood company, Noble House Seafoods, he cannot compete in the shrimp business. Additionally, he reiterated that he has no intention of coming out of the shrimping business and going back into it.

Vieira said it was a “dramatic” situation to come out of the business because of his local and overseas customers, and noted that a lot of people have expressed their disappointment. But he pointed out that while other companies are faced with the same problem with getting the “broken shrimp” sold, as had been the experience with BEV, he said that selling it at a very low price is not the way he was prepared to go.

BEV, he said, was the only company that did not have its own fleet of fishing vessels but had been sourcing  100 per cent of its supplies from persons who sold their products to them, adding that the company had never encountered any difficulty in selling prawns.

NOT SHRIMP

Alluding to new venture he is considering, the businessman said he initially thought of a reconstituted shrimp business, utilising the same broken shrimp, but said having thought of the cost and amount of work that it would entail, he likened it to “jumping from the frying pan into the fire”, as over the years he had been dealing with perishables, which is very time-consuming.

“Most likely my final decision will be with food, which could be in the area of processing or distribution, but definitely not shrimp,” as he reminded of the goodwill he made with Noble House.

“I am very familiar with the food business, I am not in a hurry as it will give me a chance to throw back and relax after all the years,” he added.

Touching on his fixed assets, Vieira said because of the location, which is considered prime property, he has recently been getting some offers to rent or sell, but added that he has not finalised anything.

He said that he has not ruled out selling if the price is right and conduct the new business he has in mind from another location.

“This is a very big place and it makes no sense utilising it to go into a small something. Talks that I have closed the business because I  was selling is not true, as you can see after eight months, I am still here, I have not signed an agreement with anyone; yes, I am having some discussions, but that is as far as it goes, “ he said.

The businessman said the decline in the “catch” is another reason he closed the business in July, adding that had “catch” not returned, he would have incurred a huge debt.