Even as Guyana continues to cast worried glances over its shoulder as the novel coronavirus continues to rage, evidence continues to surface of the emergence of opportunistic business initiatives across the country.
Pheadra Williams is a first-time agro-processor whose love for fresh natural ginger-laced juice was being countered by the monotony of having to grate ginger before being able to apply it to her pursuits. That was the genesis of an initiative that gave birth to cold-pressing ginger juice which Pheadra says has ‘caught on’ with local consumers.
The development of the product, she says, began with its ‘manufacture’ and in the first instance being consumed in her own home and gifted as giveaways to friends.
The November 2020 Almond Street Farmers’ Market may have been the catalyst for a commercial venture that has graduated through the ranks of what one might call patronage buying to a present condition in which her product has won widespread acceptance in many of the country’s high profile food outlets.
Consistency of sales since the Almond Street experience has meant that customers have ‘graduated’ from one-time triers to, hopefully, lifetime buyers. Among the local outlets that display her product are Massy, the GMC’s Guyana Shop, Bounty Supermarkets, N&S Mattai, Cos Cutters, and AT Farm on the East Bank Demerara, among others. The graduation has swelled her admittedly still-limited market to a point that now extends beyond local patronage to the larger, more lucrative markets.
Setting aside the ‘novelty’ of her products, Pheadra believes that her careful attention to packaging and labelling has helped create market access.
If the popularisation of ginger may have come about largely on account of the advent of COVID-19, Pheadra has no wish for the retention of the product’s marketability to be dependent on the persistence of the pandemic. She is seeking to hone a marketing strategy that will cause the product to long outlast COVID-19. “It is a multi-faceted product that has all sorts of possibilities, she says. Unsurprisingly, she is already contemplating other ginger products.
These days, having secured a foothold on the Guyana market, Pheadra’s thoughts have shifted to the overseas market. Relatives and friends have already done their bit to help the product become known beyond the country’s shores.
Pheadra makes no secret of her pride over the fact that her enterprise has opened up an opportunity for ginger growers in Region One from whence she receives her supplies. She points out that she has persisted in her patronage of farmers in that region, the challenges associated from moving product from the interior to the coast, notwithstanding.
Growth is a constant preoccupation. There are plans in the pipeline for the creation of a factory and thoughts of a marketing blitz that seeks to significantly raise the bar insofar as public attention is concerned.
Pheadra Williams makes no secret of the fact that she has something to shout about.
Pheadra can be reached at e-mail:
webpage: https://www.facebook.com/
OrganiPure and telephone 662-2010.
