The Stabroek Business first met Sandra Craig, the owner of the SS Natural Fruit Flavors brand in 2017 she was part of the Guyana contingent to the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) in Barbados. In those days she was, at best, hopeful, that her food sauces would find favor with what she anticipated would be a fiercely competitive ‘market.’ Suffice it to say that they did. Last week the steady growth of her reputation as an agro-processor brought her products the accolade of being accorded the Guyana National Bureau of Standards’ ‘Made in Guyana’ Award.
The Award is a significant accolade first bestowed on the local company known as the Fibre Tech Industrial Plastics earlier this year. Simply put, it is a national stamp of approval which, through its official authentication of a product as being Guyanese-manufactured enables consumer recognition thereby opening up market access at the national, regional and international levels. The mark provides assurance to potential buyers that the ‘certified’ item has its origins in a company that is served by a local labour force that is at least 70% Guyanese. It is also a quality assurance guarantee.
Given the intensity of local, regional and international competition which locally manufactured agro produce faces Sandra is understandably comforted by the fact that her recent award places her in a favorable position insofar as market access is concerned.
At this year’s National Agricultural Exhibition (‘Agro Fest’) in Barbados Sandra realized her first major trading breakthrough, a contract that will place her impressive range of food sauces and spices manufactured with a range of locally-grown fruits on the Supermarket shelves in Barbados.
Long prior to her recent Made in Guyana Award, however, Sandra’s persistence had been paying off. Over time she has developed a ‘knack’ for keeping her ears to the ground, following local and regional developments and market opportunities in the agro-processing and where possible, showing up at as many local and regional product promotion and marketing events as circumstances. Here she credits the initiatives undertaken by the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) and the UncappeD product promotion exercise fashioned by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association. (GMSA). These days Sandra’s SS brand can be found on the shelves of food outlets throughout the city
Prior to the Made in Guyana credential being bestowed on her brand the company has been awarded the awarded the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association Ltd President’s Award for Pioneering Spirit Entrepreneurship Award.
. Sandra is now eying the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification, a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.
Established in 2011, SS Natural Fruit Flavors Inc. is a family-owned establishment. The company has been creating various barbecue sauces drawing on the abundance of flavorful fruits (these include pineapple, tamarind, soursop, golden apple, ginger, garlic, passion fruit and mango.) In 2019 the SS brand moved to expand its product line to include a range of Flavored Dips, Hot and Sweet and Sour Sauces, Dried Seasonings and Natural Face and Body Scrubs.
Prior to the game-changing interventions of her current pursuits Sandra had spent much of her earlier life in cooking. During the period that she and her husband served as Caretakers at the Guyana National Trading Corporation Sports Complex on Carifesta Avenue, she subsidized her income by offering cooked local foods to the Sports Complex’s patrons.
Following her husband’s death the urge to persist came, for the most part, from her son, Shemroy, who initially injected $500,000.00 into the venture. financed the expansion initiative to the tune of $500,000.
The birth of the SS brand derived from her diversification into the barbecue ‘industry.’ The first flavor attracted a sufficiently favorable response to encourage continuity.
Continued expansion and diversification has seen Sandra surrender the ‘food business’ to her daughter, freeing herself to concentrate on the development of her barbecue sauces. Unfortunately, the ‘food business’ has now ‘folded.’
Sandra’s momentum derives largely from the support of her children, loyal customers, friends and relatives. She also pays tribute to the various state agencies, notably the Guyana Manufacturers & Services Association (GMSA) that have contributed to her advancement up to this point.
Access to funds with which to finance continual growth and difficulties associated with accessing product containers that meet international standards are among Sandra’s main challenges. Prior to the advent of COVID-19 IN 2020 she had purchased her containers from China, The logistical consequences deriving from COVID 19 have place price rises deriving from increased shipping costs beyond her reach. Not a few agro processors have told this newspaper that if government is serious about advancing the agro processing industry in Guyana it should intervene assertively to ensure the smooth importation of adequate quantities of the various types of containers which the agro processing sector needs for packaging.
Sandra says that anticipated external demand ought to send signals to government regarding the need to import modern manufacturing equipment that will allow Agro Processors to expand their production bases. This issue has been the subject of seemingly directionless discussion between government and the GMSA for several years. Unsurprisingly, Sandra’s ambition is to acquire a factory of her own.
