Local agro-processors have secured an additional medium through which to market their products following the recent launch of the New Guyana Marketing Corporation’s Market and Enterprise Information System (MEIS).
New GMC General Manager Nizam Hassan told Stabroek Business last week that the MEIS seeks to, among other things, enable local producers to secure additional market access both in the region and further afield, a concern which has been raised by agro processors from time to time.
The new MEIS contains information on the Guyana Agro Processors Association, a 21-member umbrella organization set up in 2009 to enable the establishment of common standards and practices for the sector and for providing financing support for new and innovative products and packaging facilities.
The MEIS also provides profiles of a number of local agro processors including Amazon Caribbean (AMCAR), established in 1987 and which, according to the information provided though the MEIS was “the first Guyanese exporter of certified organic produce, meeting strict international food standard (IFS).
The MEIS also features information on the East Coast Demerara-based Mel’s products which manufactures condiments and food sauces from local herbs and spices, the West Bank Demera-based Prestige Foods, Guyana which manufactures similar products and the Eccles-based Tandy’s Manufacturing Enterprise which, having made its name locally through the manufacture of peanut butter has diversified into jams, jellies and food sauces. The enterprises featured on the New GMC’s MEIS have been among the country’s leading agro-processing exporters.
The new MEIS also provides information on the local packaging houses at Sophia and Parika that facilitate the processing of fresh fruit for export to several Caribbean territories including Antigua, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago as well as the bilateral protocols associated with exports to those countries from Guyana. The MEIS also provides information on the operation of the packaging facilities as well as instructions on how to apply for use of the facilities. Exporters utilizing the packaging facilities are required to hold an import permit from the importing country and must also provide their workers’ permits to handle their produce.
Through the MEIS, exporters and potential exporters also benefit from market surveys on several countries including Antigua, Barbados, the United Kingdom, Guadeloupe, St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Reviews are also provided for exporters targeting markets in Toronto and New York.
Meanwhile, the MEIS also provides importers of locally produced agricultural and agro-processed products with updated information on products available for sale by local farmers and afro-processors. Information currently available on the site indicates that wiri wiri pepper, boulangers, cucumbers, eddoes, pumpkins and dry coconuts produced by farmers at Parika, Laluni, Kuru Kuru and Mahaicony are currently available for export.
