Tomorrow, Saturday December 21, will mark the final opportunity for 2019 that consumers will be afforded to experience direct face-to-face marketplace engagement with farmers and agro-processors through the vehicle of the Guyana Marketing Corporation’s now familiar D’Urban Park Farmers’ Market.
Earlier this week the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) told the Stabroek Business that it had been working aggressively on both the public promotion of the event as well as ensuring that arrangements on the ground were in place to welcome both sellers and buyers tomorrow, from 06:00 hrs.
Information provided this newspaper by the GMC indicates that tomorrow’s Farmers’ Market is expected to attract more than 80 vendors including ten crop farmers, seven cattle farmers, 52 agro-processors and at least two vendors offering cooked food. These, according to the GMC, will come from Regions Two, Three, Four, Five and Six. Those apart, the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) and the Guyana School of Agriculture will be among the other agencies offering products at the Farmers’ Market.
With seasonal shopping in mind, the GMC has indicated that the range of items that will be available at D’Urban Park tomorrow will include fresh fruit, vegetables, beef, pork, chicken, duck, mutton, eggs and ham. In addition, visitors to the Farmers Market will have access to a range of agro-processed products, including casareep, traditional fruit-based cakes, barbecue sauces, bottled seasonings, honey, pepper sauces and local skin and hair products. With the decorative dimension to the season in mind, the GMC says that tomorrow’s Farmers’ Market will also offer locally-made craft and decorative plants. Food vendors are expected to offer visitors to the event, delicacies such as pepper pot and homemade bread, black cake, cassava bread and ginger beer, among other traditional Guyanese ‘eats and drinks.’
The GMC has disclosed to Stabroek Business that some of the vendors will be offering products at ‘factory prices’ and that two entities offering the GT Wine and Red Basket brands have indicated that they will be making “Christmas offers” available.
Meanwhile, Stabroek Business understands that the GMC’s Guyana Shop will be offering for sale, items stocked by the facility whose producers will not be displaying stalls at tomorrow’s market. The Guyana Shop has been playing an important role in offering shelf space to emerging brands of condiments, spices, confectionery, beverages and cosmetics while sensitising manufacturers to areas of weakness in product quality and presentation, in order to better position them to become more competitive on the local and external markets.
