GAJENDRA Persaud, owner of C&G Persaud Fish Processing, the producer of smoked and salted fish, probably has some of the best locally made products you can find and they are being produced right at his North Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, home.

With a hygienic, standard facility at his residence, Persaud has converted his lower flat into the processing section for his salted and smoked-fish small business.

He told the Guyana Chronicle that he has in stock smoked snapper, trout, shark, mackerel and banga, which he sells in wholesale quantities to supermarkets and other buyers for re-sale.

The salted fish comes in banga, snapper, trout and mackerel.

Persaud explained that at times, the various kinds of fish are not available on the market; because of this scarcity, his business usually suffers since he cannot produce as he should.

He explained that he would buy in bulk when the fish is plentiful, allowing him to stock up so that he can produce enough smoked and salted fish to keep his small business operational.

The businessman added that he would wholesale a pack of smoked fish for $1,000 to the buyers and they would have a fixed price once it goes on the shelf.

Persaud reported that it is a family business which was started by his father 15 years ago and passed on to him.

He is married with two children and often his wife assists in the fish- processing facility. They have one employee as the salted and smoked- fish business doesn’t call for daily work.

The businessman disclosed that he would buy fish in bulk from vendors at the Meadowbank Wharf. It then takes some time for the fish to be processed before it can be packaged and be, ready for the market.

Persaud said his business is licensed and certified and fish prices aren’t stable due to scarcity at the start of the year.

He explained that the drying and smoking of the fish takes days to complete and it is an on-going process which requires time and patience to get the finished product.

Persaud reported that snapper takes four days to fully dry for salted fish while other species of fish takes a day fewer.

He added that during the rainy season the fish doesn’t dry well, and it is a challenge to have it “open dried” in large quantities.

The Mon Repos resident pointed out that in that kind of business there are challenges, but after being in the business for some time, he has experience and makes it work despite the hiccups of being self-employed.

Persaud said it is a lucrative small business once there is a market for the product, and it must be of good quality and standard for it to sell quickly.

It is one of many small businesses that is managing to keep its doors open despite the increasing cost of living.