For Sandra Craig, Proprietor of the local agro processing brand, SS Natural Fruit-Flavored Inc., years of persistence in seeking to secure a ‘bridgehead’ for her products on the United States market may finally be beginning to reap dividends. A matter of days ago, now having finally completed the rack of procedures associated with having her creations ‘cleared’ for the US market, the first batch of her tasty, attractively packaged condiments finally left Guyana for its United States destination, Dave’s West Indian Products Corp -Wholesaler, Importer, Distributor of 98-07 97th Avenue, Ozone Park, Queens, New York.
Sandra’s protracted engagement with United States-based Businessman, Dave Narine, the Proprietor of the New York outlet, had led to an animated discourse about the market potential of an impressive range of flavored sauces/spices that derive from the various fruits cultivated and widely consumed in Guyana.
If the initial Providence engagement between Sandra and Dave was to end in an understanding that the products were altogether deserving of exposure on a potentially lucrative market, the global intervention of COVID-19 brought plans to take the initiative forward to a shuddering halt.
Neither party, however, was about to have the pandemic derail what they both saw as a significant promotional opportunity for a range of Guyanese condiments on a potentially receptive market…………so back he came Dave earlier this year to attend the annual UNCAPPED event and to resume discourses with Sandra on her SS brand of products.
This year’s discourses between the two were much briefer, the earlier engagement having already persuaded the New York-based businessman that he was on to a good thing. A contract was been signed between the two companies for the purchase of a crate of SS’ twenty one (21) products – dips, sauces and other condiments – which will be distributed through Narine’s New York outlet.
Once they ‘hit the market,’ consumers will begin to have access to nine flavors of sauces and seasons that will leave a taste of Guyana on many tongues in New York and beyond, in the United States. From there, the SS Brand is very likely to find its way into other consumer spaces in North America.
It is a breakthrough, no less, for an aspiring local brand on a potentially hugely lucrative external market, something which the local agro-processing has been ‘chasing,’ with no more than strictly limited success, for years.
The SS brand has, over time, become a fixture at local and regional agro processing events (the company has participated in consecutive Agro-Fest in Barbados and has also participated in the Florida International Trade Expo, a popular staging post for hemispheric products on the lookout for lucrative markets in the United States.
Sandra recalls that SS’ participation in the Agro-Fest event earlier this year was significant insofar as the company succeeded in marketing fifty two crates of product at that event.
In a region where there is no shortage of competition, Sandra recalls that the company’s participation in Agro Fest 2023 as a considerable product-promotion success.
From Sandra’s perspective the success of the SS brand goes beyond offering the customer just another jar of Caribbean condiment. She believes that the unique aroma which every fruit offers affords the consumer a feeling of Caribbean…..ness that can become decidedly addictive.
A recent recipient of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards’ Made in Guyana Certification Mark, Sandra now regards her SS brand as an ‘Ambassador’ for the country’s agro-processing sector. She has become a ‘regular’ at local product display and sampling events, greeting attendees with a familiar, infectious smile and animatedly encouraging them to sample what the SS brand has to offer.
When the Stabroek Business caught up with Sandra at her Norton street residence earlier this week she was in the process of going over the raft of procedures associated with the dispatch of the first crate of product to Dave’s West Indian Products Corp. Wholesaler, Importer, Distributor, 98-07 97th Avenue, Ozone Park, Queens, New York. the first significant ‘leap forward’ from a much earlier encounter the local UNCAPPED event at the Providence.
The first New York consignment includes the complete range of the twenty one (21) products – flavored dips, sauces, and seasoning – manufactured under the SS brand. These include assorted Dips, Barbecue Sauces and Seasonings.
A persuasive case can be made her for the initiative involving two Guyanese-owned business enterprises, one located in Guyana and the other in the United States, becoming a launching pad for what has been a long sought-after strengthening of links between Guyanese residing in North America and those of us who have opted to remain at home. Recent indications that those ‘ties’ may now be further strengthened by Guyana’s significant oil finds may well, in its own modest but not insignificant way, be further cemented by what may well turn out to be another pointed reminder of what Guyana has to offer.
