Dwayne Wade’s means of earning a living have come ‘full circle,’ from being in the employ of the majority Russian-owned RUSAL Bauxite Company (now officially known as the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. as well as the Aurora Gold Mines as a Heavy Equipment Operator before moving ‘full circle,’ into the very different world of agro processing. It fits in with a discernable shift among enterprising Guyanese across the country from paid employment to one another form of self-employment, or else, to at least some form of entrepreneurship that significantly subsidizes fell-time paid employment.
In Dwayne’s instance, his focus would appear to be on a complete transformation, his company, Country Style Foods, with its operations at 42 Bond Road, Central Amelia’s Ward, Linden , seeking to make its way in what, over time, has become the highly competitive local snack foods industry.
It has been a gingerly ‘graduation’ for Country Style Foods from the official launch of the company in May last year to the production of its first plantain chip sample product in October. Immediately thereafter and in response to what Dwayne says was the high market demand, the company wasted no time in placing its plantain chips on the market. Dwayne’s decision to venture into agro processing, he told Stabroek Business was a function of his observation that what was in fact a lucrative local market was being dominated by a plethora of snack food imports. His position on imported snack foods is simple. While he understands the need for open markets that allow for reciprocal import and export of goods and for a variety that allows for customer choice, he believes that the growth of the country’s productive sector cannot be guaranteed if local agro produce is not afforded some measure of ‘protection’ by placing some structured on the open-ended importation of produce that compete directly with similar home-grown manufactured products and which, moreover, are available in local outlets at lower prices. Country Style Foods, Dwayne says, is backing itself to match if not surpass in quality the snack foods that were being imported and he believes that the market support that his plantain chips has attracted has vindicated his decision.
Dwayne told Stabroek Business that he was particularly concerned to produce a product the avoided the use of chemicals and preservatives on which some imports depend to extend the shelf life of their products. That apart, he says, he was aware of the fact that his own local venture would create demand for raw materials, a circumstance that would have a positive knock-on effect on the local farming community.
A matter of months after opening its doors for the first time Country Style Foods has succeeding in carving out an encouraging niche for its plantain chips in what is a limited but growing market.
Dwayne says that “in the coming weeks” the company will be placing two further flavors (what flavor is currently on the market and which are the two in the pipeline) on the market. “By the year end we should have five different flavors available,” he quipped.
Dwayne says that the company’s growth plans are already in the pipeline and that other snacks including flavored cassava, sweet potato, and English potato chips will be available in the not too distant future. Eddo chips, Dwayne says, are also in the pipeline.
Motivated, Dwayne says, by the local response to his first product, the heavy equipment operator-turned business proprietor says that he continues to be grateful “for their continuous support for our product.”
While Dwayne says that he is firmly committed to providing the local market with healthy snack foods, he concedes that his biggest fear is the fear of letting consumers down. “My biggest fear is that might produce a product that may not meet with the approval of the market. That is why I personally oversee every first batch of product each day. My other concern is the fear of being unable to secure adequate supplies of raw materials to sustain production.”
Dwayne also feels a considerable sense of satisfaction over the fact that his enterprise has been able to create employment for others in his own community. He also feels a sense of satisfaction over having personally piloted his own path to becoming a business owner and thoroughly enjoys social media interaction with his customers.
Wade’s ambitions, however, extend way beyond his current pursuits. While he is hopeful that his p-resent plantain chip product will help boost plantain production in Linden, his own longer-term plan includes pressing a plot of land which he owns into service to help meet his own factory demands. Nor does he plan to continue to limit his agro processing pursuits to his present plantain chip product. Investigative work has already commenced in order to determine the suitability of some vegetables/ground provision for being re-presented as snack foods.
