- Weekly SVG Food Shipments to Europe to Resume
Since the decline of the bananas industry in the Windward Islands there is a drive and a dedicated effort to diversify the agricultrue sector. St Vincent and the Grenadines efforts to transform the agricultural landscape led by Minister Saboto Caesar has engaged several technical institutions and distributors both from a regional and international perspective for the development of the sector and to foster market opportunities. One such initiative, is the Windward Island Food Production Corridor which is being implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
In February 2023, the revitalization of the dasheen industry was launched which gained tremendous support from both producers and potential markets in the United States and Europe. An increase in production is noted within the country and the development of the industry structure to assist in production, scheduling and pricing. In May 2024, building on the success of the dasheen industry upgrade, the hot pepper industry is also being reviewed for further development.
The Trade Development Specialist of the FAO, Mr. Jai Rampersad led a market development mission to the United Kingdom and the United States in September 2023. This mission was facilitated by the St Vincent and the Grenadines High Commission representative, Ms. Jinelle Adams. Meetings were held with several wholesale distributors, retailers and regional consulates. With several companies highlighting both their interest in Caribbean commodities and the growing market demands, one of the established distributors in the Croydon, London, United Kingdom went into further discussions for European distribution.
The company Tropical Foods Wholesale and Distribution Ltd. was incorporated to build on the last decade of Caribbean distribution through supermarkets and restaurants with commodities primarily out of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. While Tropical Foods currently has over 5,000 ft2 retail space, they have identified a further 15,000 ft2 warehouse space to facilitate storage and wholesale distribution of Caribbean products with both fresh and value added commodities from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) which would lend market support to their current ‘FAST’ strategy.
Tropical Foods distribution network supplies over 180 retail stores and supermarket chains in London and surrounding areas as well as wholesale distributors throughout Europe and Africa. Once the volume of Caribbean commodities can be consistently supplied at competitive prices, they have an estimated monthly demand for over 10 containers which is an estimated half a million (500,000) lbs of regional of produce. The key agriculture commodities identified are dasheen, hot peppers, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, plantains, bananas, passion fruit and avocados among others. This initiative is expected to start by September 2024 and would certainly add critical market support to the growing production base in St Vincent and the Grenadines and other OECS countries.
