It occurred to Sursattie Paul to venture into a modest enterprise re-packaging spices and home-made sweetmeats while she was employed as a merchandiser with the Bounty Supermarket chain. From her particular vantage point she had watched ordinary women like herself, coming and going, mounting determined lobbies in the hope that their products would “make” the shelves of one of the capital’s high-profile supermarkets.
She had, she said, become fixated by a woman who appeared to be of decidedly modest means and whose products – fried channa and salted peanuts – had “made it” to Bounty’s shelves. It was then that the first thoughts of Fresh Packers, which she now runs from her First Avenue, Kaneville home began to enter her head.
The sight of products ranging from dried thyme to tamarind balls being brought in by modest agro-processors was something of a revelation. In her mind’s eye she had always imagined that “up market” food outlets confined their patronage to so-called “brand name” suppliers. If the people whom she had always considered to be the lesser vendors could meet the standard, so could she.