The word on the street is that the local catering industry has actually grown during the protracted period of the COVID-19 malady, as individuals and families relied more heavily on ‘ordered in’ cuisine for modest, home-based hangouts rather than either abandon their old habits or risk reckless exposure to larger public gatherings. Sheeanta Lambert, the proprietrix of S & R Catering and Produce, Lot 56 ‘A’ Nurseville, New Amsterdam, Berbice, confirms that that she has been taking advantage of that window of opportunity.
Sheeanta’s and her husband Ryan’s understanding of the strictures that have been placed on the catering sector on account of the advent of the COVID-19, is reflected in her culinary shift towards offering her cuisine that is not only pleasing but responsive to what is now a more widespread understanding of healthy foods.
Sheeanta had become attracted to cooking as a child. Back then, as an eight-year-old, and while her mother was out doing the shopping, she was charged with cooking meals comprising, frequently, boiled rice and boulanger, among other dishes, on a kerosene stove, under the supervision of her mother. Over time, her culinary skills became sharpened, first, through her Home Economics tuition at the New Amsterdam Multilateral School and afterwards, through courses at the Carnegie School of Home Economics. By then she had become preoccupied with the idea of creating her own catering establishment.
Participation in the 2016, Specialists in Sustained Youth Development and Research (SSYDR) programme further upgraded her skills. Upon graduation, she was afforded a grant of $200,000 with which to help create her own establishment, the original foundation upon which today’s enterprise was built. She recalls that one of the prerequisites for receiving the grant was that she develop a business plan.
While food had been her first preference, the terms and conditions associated with receipt of the grant meant that she had to opt for an enterprise that focussed on the manufacture of beverages.
What is now S&R Catering and Produce was registered in 2016. At the outset, it set its entrepreneurial sights on a market that comprised weddings, birthdays, engagements and anniversaries. That was where ‘the money’ was.
Not unlike other enterprises in the sector, COVID-19 turned S&R Catering ‘upside down.’ Complete closure meant that an alternative livelihood had to be found. Reaching back into some of her earlier training, Sheeanta set about the aggressive marketing of the role that fruit juices play in the strengthening of the body’s immune system and afterwards taking advantage of the market response thereto.
Constraints placed on public gatherings meant that ‘home delivery’ (in Stanleytown and its environs) had to be introduced. The ‘juice business’ has since grown and these days the enterprise offers fourteen flavours of juices blended from the impressive array of fruit available in Guyana. Sheeanta ‘boasts’ that the popularity of her juices has extended out of New Amsterdam and has even found its way into Georgetown.
Sheeanta gives much of the credit for the quality of her juices to the sources from which her fruits are acquired. She singles out the Guyana school of Agriculture, farmers in Canje Creek, Corentyne, and the Port Mourant market, for the quality of their product. Since fruits are seasonal she has cultivated a system of preservation through freezing. What are usually ‘reliable’ contracts with farmers are sometimes upended by seasonal scarcity and attendant price fluctuations.
Burgers and ‘Cheese, Please,’ which are among her most popular culinary offerings, were added to her menu at the insistence of her two daughters, aged 12 and 14, respectively. These have been added to the range of the establishment’s cuisine with considerable commercial success.
S&R is open for business at 09:00 hours but the phone begins to ring as early as 05:00 hours.
Challenges? These are there a-plenty, Sheeanta says. Packaging is a major constraint. She frets about the ‘untidiness’ of having to ‘chop and change’ the bottles in which she packages her juices. Importers and manufacturers, she opines, need to stay abreast of the demands of the market. There is, she says, no consistency whatsoever, in the type of packaging available on a continual basis. One batch of the bottles for her Soursop Juice may be green and the next batch would be some other colour… whatever the market has to offer. This, she says, can negatively impact customer appeal.
There are other types of challenges too, Sheeanta says… those that have to do with income tax and NIS payments for micro and small businesses. If these businesses are to remain viable, she contends, it will be necessary to revisit the existing regime of payments in the instances of both agencies.
With regard to access to financing, Sheeanta, already a beneficiary of a $200,000 grant from the Small Business Bureau, wants more funding to be allocated to the Bureau to take account of the growing financial needs of expanding businesses.
For advertising, Sheeanta relies largely on Social Media and on attendance at various product display events including those that have been staged by the Guyana Manufacturing & Services Association.
Sheeanta believes that diligent application to studies designed to lengthen the shelf life of locally produced juices can significantly enhance the market. While the demand for local juices is significant and profitable for outlets, limited shelf life impacts significantly on volumes ordered by retailers. She is, she says, reluctant to accede to advice which she has received to include chemical preservatives in her ‘mixes’ in order to extend the shelf life of her juices.
Whilst increasing demand for her offerings these days justifies the recruitment of hired help, Sheeanta says that this remains unaffordable given the COVID-19 impact on the scale of her operations. With the recent lifting of the COVID restrictions she is hopeful that she can turn that around… and quickly.
