Two years after the staging of the first ever UncappeD event at the Sophia Exhibition Centre, the third such display and marketing of products from across the sub-sectors, this time, at the Providence Stadium, offered glimpses of both longevity and newness, of struggle and of survival. Here is a synopsis of the stories we were told by business owners who showed up with their products last weekend:
Narine Persaud: Farmer, Bengal Coren-tyne: Several years after returning Narine made his first ever appearance at UncappeD offering boulanger, sweet pepper, and a good deal more to buyers. Seven or eight huge boulanger for $1,000 was Narine’s deal of the day. Over the past two years Narine has had to use his ‘scientific knowledge’ of farming to push back against crop diseases and flooding. He has also learnt to live with the ebb and flow of market demand. He believes that his four-acre farm continues to serve him well, having survived the near complete loss of all of his farm produce to the 2021 May/June rains.
Govinda Sami: Farmer, Parika Salem, West Coast Demerara: Last Saturday, Govinda, his wife and his son appeared to be doing ‘brisk business’ at the Stadium offering ‘ground provision’, plantain and pineapple at the UncappeD Market Place. This was Govinda’s first UncappeD ‘outing’ and it was not difficult to detect that he was pleased to be there. Four hours into the event he was optimistic that the day would go well as he had travelled to Providence hoping to benefit from what he said was a current shortage of sweet cassava, plantain and sweet potato. Govinda has been a farmer for the past forty seven years.
Marcia Gonsalves: Marcia’s Products: Marcia told the Stabroek Business that she was thrilled that the UncappeD Market Place “is back.” Previously, the event had served her well as a ‘trading post’ for her cassava bread, casareep and farine and she was hoping that last weekend’s event might serve to have her reconnect with some of her ‘regulars’ and meet quite a few new ones, as well. The recent relaxing of the COVID-19 strictures was already having a positive impact on her enterprise. When the Stabroek Business spoke with Marcia she was concerned that the upsurge in demand for cassava bread and casareep had coincided with a shortage of bitter cassava on account of crop losses due to flooding.
Mohammed Kahmar: trading under the name Mohammed Handicraft, he uses natural fibres (banana leaves, to manufacture dolls, floral arrangements and costume jewellery. Mohammed was encouraged go down this entrepreneurial road after a friend returned from a pageant elsewhere in the Caribbean excited by the lucrative nature of the market. A period of research was quickly followed by production. Mohammed creates products to coincide with rituals and celebratory events. COVID-19 and the paucity of public events had hit his business hard, compelling him to direct his attention to shrimp-harvesting.
With the sense of gloom with which the pandemic had come to be associated having now been lifted, Mohammed has returned to his substantive business pursuit with vigour. In a sense the UncappeD event represents a celebration of his return to what he believes he does best.
Denyse Grant is the proprietrix of Denyse Fashion and Fabric Design and D’s Body Therapy. Her Fashion and Design enterprise had been closed for one year. She continues to ponder the significant decline in demand for local fashion largely on account (she feels) of the proliferation of cheaper Chinese imports. These days, she says, the local clothing market is limited to mostly working clothes, school uniforms, bridal dresses and other dresses associated with weddings. On the whole, she says, the clothing industry has taken a considerable ‘hit.’
It was this that led to the emergence of D’s Body Therapy, which specialises in soaps and other skincare products. Her more recent venture has met with a fair amount of success and she had opted to attend the UncappeD event to intensify the promotion of her skincare products, to reconnect with new ones and to enhance her understanding of the market.
Dianna Prowell is over the moon! Pleasurable Flavours, her snack foods enterprise, is on the threshold of exporting her ‘Shake and Fry’ a coating that both ‘flavours’ and ‘colours’ fish, chicken and meat prior to frying. Her first external target markets, she says are Trinidad and Tobago and the United States.
The seven Pleasurable Flavours that include mango, tamarind, and papaya, are already on local supermarket shelves at the Guyana Shop, FoodMax Giftland Mall, Go Local, and in various food outlets in Linden. Much of Diana’s work over the past two years has focussed on product presentation, not least packaging and labelling.
