- XTRA Foods to Boost SVG Agriculture Trade
The XTRA Foods group of companies championed by their chain of supermarkets in Trinidad and Tobago are embarking on the establishment of a ‘Food Terminal’ or trade hub for agricultural commodities from St Vincent and the Grenadines. This is the first step in the development of a regional trade initiative to both consolidate and distribute Caribbean produced commodities at an international and domestic level, utilising its extensive distribution network.
The supermarket chain currently distributes an estimated 10 Million EC$ of regional agricultural produce annually, which is projected to expand and fill a critical gap of private sector investment and market support in the sector. St Vincent and the Grenadines has historically been a strong trading partner with Trinidad and Tobago for exports of agricultural items such as dasheen, sweet potatoes, ginger, eddoes, plantains and coconuts (dry).
St Vincent and the Grenadines is described as the ‘bread basket’ of the southern Caribbean, with the Honourable Minister Saboto Caesar leading a strategic drive to diversify their agricultural sector, since the decline in the Windward Islands banana industry and in making food ‘Affordable, Accessible and Available’.
Several developments in the sector such as the rapid expansion of the fisheries industry, increase in the regional exportation of livestock, investments in fruits and vegetable production, enhancement of the roots and tubers industry as well as advancements in market and trade development have continued this key transition that echoes the goals of the CARICOM 25/25 and OECS Fast strategies.
The regional agriculture industry is at a critical juncture faced with a rising food import bill, stagnant exports, increasing natural disaster and other adverse effects of climate change, transportation / logistics support, external shocks such as the Covid 19 pandemic, inconsistent and primary production systems and market development challenges among others.
This collaboration comes at the most opportune time as the private sector intervention would provide additional support into the sector by providing not only an avenue for distribution, but also vital information to guide policy such as market demands for commodities, quality standards, prices, volumes, new product development and competition.
In terms of the trade of agricultural commodities between Trinidad and Tobago and St Vincent and the Grenadines there are ongoing challenges such as foreign exchange issues, volatile prices, inconsistent supply, inadequate distribution and payment terms. This has unfortunately affected both a decrease in production and prices of key export crops such as dasheen fo farmers and through layers of ‘middle men’ has resulted in relatively high costs for the final consumer base in Trinidad and Tobago.
This partnership would address several of these issues, including providing direct market access for the farmers and reducing the cost for several of these agriculture commodities in the domestic market.
This initiative builds on the international market development platform facilitated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) where their trade development specialist, Mr. Jai Rampersad has been coordinating with distributors from the United Kingdom and the United States to enhance the exports of Caribbean produced commodities.
The management team of XTRA foods would be visiting St Vincent and the Grenadines on the 26th to 28th of June 2024 to conduct site visits, review the agricultural commodities, meet distributors and initiate this venture by signing a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ with the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines.
