MANY small and medium-sized Guyanese agro-processors and food producers have been consistently upping their game over the past few years, not only improving on the packaging and aesthetics of their products but introducing new and innovative products into the market.

“Instant Cook up” by Taz Foods, “Pepperpot in a Box” by Ashdel’s, “Only Coconut” line of products by Precision Global, and “Country Style Plantain Chips” by Wade Enterprise are just a few of the more recent additions that have been making serious waves in the market.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Chief Invest Officer and Head of the Guyana Office for Invest (Go-Invest), Dr. Peter Ramsaroop, shared that the massive investment and support on the government’s part have been yielding fruits, especially considering the way in which local entities are stepping up to the challenge for increased production of agriculture and value-added food products.

“There’s a push to get our products into the Caribbean. Our main sales manager is the President [Dr Irfaan Ali] himself. The more we produce, and the more we step up our standards, the more he is marketing our products throughout the region,” Dr. Ramsaroop said.

He added: “There’s a drive from His Excellency on the agriculture sector, pushing for more products to be developed both at mega farms and with agro processors. There’s the initiative with the 25 by 25.”

As Lead Head of Government in the CARICOM Quasi-Cabinet with responsibility for Agriculture, Food Security and Agricultural Diversification, Dr. Ali has been spearheading the region’s efforts to achieve food security within the Caribbean region, pushing for regional nations to produce and consume more domestic food products.

The initiative 25 by 25, put forth by President Ali, strives to see the region reduce its food import bill by at least 25 per cent by 2025.

Encouraged by the commitment from most of the Caribbean nations to do their part in the food security initiative, smaller businesses have been taking up the mantle.

With Guyana being seen as having a central role to play, the government, led by President Dr. Ali has been putting its money where its mouth is, not shying away from making necessary public sector investments to ensure entrepreneurs in the food production business feel supported and encouraged to expand and innovate.

“They feel that it is not just them doing it alone. They know that they have the support of their government. With coordination from the Bureau of Standards, the Guyana Invest Office, and the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) marketing the products, the agro processors know that there is help from government and we will continue to help push their products from the government side,” Dr. Ramsaroop said.

While agro processing is by no means a new occurrence for Guyana, over the years, the improvement of the standard and quality of the products has been a big impediment against locally produced food products becoming viable and competitive for the local and export markets.

Hence, this has been a key area where much focus has been going into over the past few years.

“Sometimes when a product doesn’t get on the shelf it doesn’t mean that the quality is bad, it could be simply that it doesn’t fit with the other products on the shelf. So, those are the learning areas that these agro processors are becoming aware of, and are making themselves much more competitive. In the packaging, how to put together the labels and even the type of containers to use,” Dr. Ramsaroop related.

REDUCING ENERGY COST
More than just support to entrepreneurs, the government has also been working on the infrastructural side, with moves to reduce Guyana’s energy costs by as much as 50 per cent with the realisation of a gas powered power plant being part of moves to vastly improve the capabilities of the manufacturing businesses in Guyana.

“If we can master these products at the higher energy cost and still be competitive, much less when we meet our commitment as government in reducing energy cost by 50 per cent. How much more they will be able to deliver and profitability will be able to increase,” Dr. Ramsaroop noted.

The Go-Invest has also been working around the clock to collaborate with the producers and manufacturers to promote the products internationally.

With the improved quality, the products have been gaining steam not only on the local market, but the major investments made to improve on product packaging has opened up the export possibilities beyond the borders of Land of Many Waters.

“We find that the producers are doing the research. They are looking at the needs in both the local market and the Caribbean. There are even other distributors that have taken up many products to the diaspora in New York, Toronto and other places,” Dr. Ramsaroop said.

The fruits of those efforts were evidenced by the amazing feedback received by several Guyanese producers while their products were on display at the 2023 Barbados Agro Fest that was held from February 24-26 at Queens Park, Bridgetown.

Guyana’s participation at the event was aimed at partnering with the Government of Barbados to boost agricultural production and contribute to safeguarding the Caribbean’s food security plan. A total of 42 Guyanese companies participated at the event including farmers, agro-processors, arts and crafts producers and jewellers.

Emerging from interactions at the event, Taz Foods out of Linden attracted the attention of the Barbados Manufacturing Association to provide ration packs for their disaster initiative using their innovative “Cook Up in a Cup” which was launched last year.

Handicraft producers specialising in Amerindian craft made arrangements to work with the National Cultural Foundation of Barbados to use Guyanese art pieces on the Tourism frontier, while

An agreement was signed between Precision Global, producers of the Only Coconut products, and Armstrong Company for the distributorship of the Only Coconuts products.

“The fact that Only Coconuts could’ve signed a distribution deal with one of the largest distributor in the Caribbean is testament to the fact of how they have stepped up on the packaging, and the quality,” Dr. Ramsaroop said.

Arrangements were also made for Guyanese companies to assemble clothing for the garment manufacturers, Prosecure, a distributor of international branded clothing for chefs, housekeeping and the healthcare sector.