A group of 17 local food and beverage business owners have successfully secured a stake in offshore catering services for ExxonMobil, marking a significant step for Guyanese participation in the oil and gas industry.
The establishments making up the consortium include Windjammer Internation-al Cuisine and Comfort Inn, Cafe Bellvana, Shelbees, Mother’s Kitchen, S & S Food Delite Halal Restaurant, Sue Brothers Restaurant, Pyramid Restaurant & Pub, Country Spice Kitchen, M & M Investments Inc, Keto Living Guyana, Tropical Flavours – Back to Eden, Unique Innovations, Juniors BBQ Grill & Burgers, Brown Sugar Catering, German’s Restaurant, Street Wise Restaurant and Catering, Service and Beacon Café.
Francine Samantha Baker, owner of Brown Sugar, recounted that the initiative began with an invitation from the Ministry of Natural Resources.
“The minister told us that the President called this meeting because many people were complaining that the oil is in Guyana, but they were not feeling the effects of it,” Baker said. “So, the President suggested that we form a catering consortium, whereby we collaborate and network, because going up against these bigger businesses alone doesn’t make sense. We don’t have the resources or the skills.”
Initially, the group consisted of over 80 members but eventually narrowed down to 17 businesses committed to taking the risk. The consortium faced challenges due to strict offshore catering requirements.
“The requirements for offshore catering were so onerous that not a single local catering company big or small was qualified individually,” explained Ramdeo Kumar, owner of Beacon Cafe.
However, the group found a way forward by purchasing a 20% stake in Newrest, a French company already contracted to provide catering services for ExxonMobil’s offshore operations.
While the consortium is not directly involved in management, they have representatives on the board of directors. This allows them to participate in decision-making while also gaining industry knowledge and experience.
“A lot of people don’t realize how much it takes financially to execute a project like this,” Kumar added. “It would take a few billion dollars. You need the architecture, the people, the organization, the equipment, everything.”
The partnership with Newrest also opens opportunities for local workforce development.
“We are going to collaborate with Newrest to have training for our staff—our 17 companies, our people,” Baker said. “This means our staff will receive world-class training, equipping them with skills that will stand out on their CVs.”
Despite initial skepticism and distrust among local businesses, the consortium hopes its model can inspire similar collaborations in other sectors of the oil and gas industry.
“There are other areas within local content where people can come together,” Kumar stated. “We can hold up this model and say, ‘Look, we’re doing it.’”
When asked if the consortium would be open to new members, Baker confirmed that discussions would take place in the future.
The initiative underscores the government’s efforts to ensure Guyanese businesses benefit from the country’s oil wealth, they stated. “It was a great initiative by the President,” Baker noted. “Any leader should do that; bring your people together, teach them how to capitalize on opportunities, especially within local content.”
President Irfaan Ali met the group last week, and a release from his office stated that the consortium, consisting of 17 local companies, highlighted their achievements to date and their vision for future development and expansion over the next two years, with Ali giving his support to the proposals and expressing optimism about the future development of the consortium. The meeting saw a verbal agreement for the formation of a catering and restaurant association.
As of November 2024, the Local Content Secretariat has registered approximately 1,032 local suppliers under Guyana’s Local Content Act. This legislation mandates that oil and gas companies, along with their subcontractors, procure specific services from Guyanese businesses, including office space rental, accommodation, janitorial, laundry, catering, pest control, insurance, food supply, and accounting.
Additionally, the government is said to be actively monitoring and addressing practices like “fronting,” where companies misrepresent their local ownership to meet local content criteria. In November 2023, it was reported that several companies were denied local content certificates after investigations revealed such practices. The government plans to revise the Local Content Act to impose stricter penalties on entities found engaging in “fronting”.
