DR. SHOBA Rachel Gobin has turned a 15-acre plot of land at Parika, East Bank Essequibo, into a farm where she sources fruits and vegetables to produce her trail mix and her ‘Yummy’ brand of dried fruits, among other products.
As an agro-processor, she is enthusiastic about promoting healthy eating. At her Ogle, East Coast Demerara property, Shoba utilises the space as a processing facility to prepare and dry the fruits before they are packaged for supermarket shelves.

Gobin’s Farm and Kitchen is a family-owned business producing healthy, local snacks that are delicious without added sugars, preservatives, or additives. In 2012, Shoba created a project that specialises in the production of seasonal dried fruits. Her partners in the enterprise are her late husband, the well-known gynaecologist Dr Neville Gobin, and her children.

Two of Gobin’s three products, the ‘Yummy’ and ‘Squibo Trails’ fruit mixes, double as snacks and pleasing travel companions for any trip when hunger strikes. The latter is a mix of seasonal fruits with cassava and sweet potato, to which cashew nuts and peanuts have been added. The former is simply a collection of tasty dried fruits. The third product is a pepper sauce, which Gobin has named ‘Hot Fuh So,’ in keeping with current trendy local names.

Dr Shoba Gobin was born in Mumbai, India, on December 18, 1950, and met her husband, the late Dr Neville Gobin, in 1968 while he was studying in Mumbai. The pair married in 1973 after both completed their MBBS degrees, and she joined him in Guyana in 1974.
The Gobins returned to Mumbai in 1978 to specialise in separate fields within the medical arena. Dr Neville specialised in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, while Shoba specialised in Anaesthesia. They then returned to Guyana to practise.

The couple are parents to five children, three of whom are medical doctors like their parents, while the other two have a PhD in Economics and an MSc in Science Education, respectively.

In 2011, while contemplating retirement, the Gobins acquired a 15-acre plot in Parika, and it was named Gobin’s Farm and Kitchen after being registered in 2012. Shoba explained that the farm was well-organised when purchased, with groves of fruit trees, including mangoes, oranges, limes, cashews, sapodillas, and many others, including rambutan and cocoa, though many trees required care to restore their productivity.

Realising that Parika, East Bank Essequibo, was reputed for sweet pineapples and hot peppers, the Gobins decided to plant both, not realising they would have to cope with the abundance while the market also faced a glut.
According to Shoba, their venture began with the purchase of 300 pineapple seedlings from a Parika farmer. Within 18 months, they had harvested more than 1,000 pineapples and, with such an abundance, were at a loss as to what to do, given the already saturated local market.

“Thus, we started our dehydrated fruit project and named it ‘Yummy’—the Healthy Snack. It is completely natural, with absolutely no additives. We also have Yummy Rolls made from fruit pulp,” she said.
Shoba added that once they began cultivating cassava and sweet potato, they created the ‘Squibo’ Trail Mix, combining cassava, sweet potato, and nuts.

“As all of us have full-time jobs, we have not ventured out on a large scale, and all advertisement is by word of mouth,” she said.
Gobin’s Farm and Kitchen at Parika, East Bank Essequibo, is open for picnics, tours, retreats, and photoshoots, all of which must be pre-scheduled. They recently hosted a tour for cancer survivors.

Shoba revealed that there is no added sugar or preservatives in her products. She says local fruit has more than sufficient natural flavouring. She recommends her snacks for health-conscious consumers and hopes they will become a regular feature in children’s lunch bags.