The Caribbean has a long history of coffee production, especially on islands with high mountainous regions and cool climates. Though they are outpaced in modern times by vast coffee plantations in South America, Caribbean countries have unique soils and growing conditions that contribute to some of the most popular coffee varieties sold in the global market. One of those highly sought-after selections is the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee.

Known for its superior taste, medium body, and low acidity, the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee has grown to become a significant contributor to the local economy, especially small farming communities and coffee distributors, as is the case for Country Traders Limited. Established in 1992, Country Traders set out to be the roasters, packers and distributors of the world’s finest coffee.

Managing Director, Mark Fletcher, started out as a supplier for other brands, before deciding to distribute his own. Since then, the husband and father of two has amassed more than 30 years experience in the coffee business, and his love for the job and the product he sells is what keeps him going.

“After leaving school, I started distributing pickles, sauces and other condiments, in the hotel industry and tourist trade,” Mark shared. “It was there that I started distributing a brand of coffee and saw the potential for it as business.”

Today the company has 15 persons employed across several areas of production. The 100% Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee accounts for half of Country Traders’ business value, but they also produce another blue mount blend and an authentic Jamaica blend, which is a combination of low mountain coffee and imported blends for distribution.

On the local end, the company’s clients include all major supermarkets, gift shops, and some hotels and restaurants. In the export market, Country Traders mainly supplies small distributors and wholesalers, as well as retail through the company’s website. These include the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and China.

“China is our newest and fastest growing market. The middle class Chinese customers are known for their top quality products whether it’s cars, clothing, or coffee, and the Blue Mountain Coffee brand is one of those quality products. There are also quite a bit of Chinese living in Jamaica, and they have been instrumental in introducing the product over there, which has resulted in steady growth.”

Currently 20% of the company’s clients exist in the export market. Their export strategy is focused on partnering with small and specialised distributors.

“With high-end coffee, freshness is the key – the fresher, the better. These small distributors are more direct, and the product can get to the customer quicker.”

Mark admits that the company has come a long way in terms of its growth and profitability. He believes however that much of their success comes from finding their niche early.

“When we first started, finance was a major challenge. The business had to build from profits because at that time, and even now, interest rates in Jamaica were extremely high. But we realized the value of customer relations, it wasn’t really so much the brand that was driving our success, but more so the strong relationship developed with the customer”.

Another formidable relationship that the company has developed is with the Caribbean Export Development Agency. In 2012, Country Traders applied for a Direct Assistance Grant to prepare their facility for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification.

‘We used the grant to make all the necessary structural changes and food safety requirements we needed in order to gain certification and now we are certified.”

The company also participated in the ANUGA, the world’s largest food and beverage trade fair, in 2013.

“ANUGA was an opportunity to showcase our products to thousands of buyers from hundreds of countries all over the world. As a part of the Caribbean Kitchen pavilion, we also established valuable contacts with other regional exhibitors.”

Mark credits Caribbean Export as having played a central, albeit indirect, role in the company’s success.

“Without the Agency we wouldn’t have attempted HACCP certification, because the cost associated with the process would have been a challenge for us. We also believe that Caribbean Export contributed to our overall export growth due to the certification we received, leading us to be more streamlined and efficient in our overall production.”

Read the full article in Primed for Success Vol. 3

Full Circle Animation Studio was recently contracted by Big Jump Entertainment in Ottawa Canada to produce the animation for season three of ‘Animals,’ an HBO TV series featuring performances from the likes of RuPaul, Aziz Ansari, Wanda Sykes, Raven-Symoné, Usher, among others. Considered to be one of the funniest, most idiosyncratic shows on television, an in-house team of 12 people (9 animators, one animation supervisor, one project coordinator, and one project manager) worked tirelessly between December 2017 and May 2018 at the studio located in Trincity, Trinidad. “This show had a very unique and distinctive style of design and animation. It looks simple and minimalist but it required us to transmit a lot of emotion through the characters using very limited animation movement. Going in, we had otherwise underestimated how challenging that could be while keeping the provocative edge that really defines the style of the show. In that regard, it was a new technical experience for us” said Managing Director Jason Lindsay.

This is the first time that an animation studio in Trinidad or throughout the Caribbean has been contracted from an international studio for a full season of a TV show on a major network. Still only a modestly sized studio by international outsourcing standards, this opportunity has provided the company with financial sustainability and a platform for growth technical/creative capacity building. “For a young animation industry like ours here in Trinidad, the main long-term benefit of an opportunity like this is the investment in our human resource. The experience and technical/creative insight gained from our animators working with an experienced production studio like Big Jump Entertainment is invaluable. The entire team benefited from it tremendously” further stated Lindsay.

This achievement however has not been Full Circle’s first endeavor doing outsourcing work for a major network. The company has also worked on productions in smaller quantities broadcasted on The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Universal Studios, DreamWorks TV and RAI.  Projects like this and other overseas productions outsourced to Full Circle puts the company in a position where over the last 3 years, over 50% of its income has been from foreign exchange revenue, with this most recent project catapulting its export earnings for the first half of 2018 to over ninety percent of its income during that period – a very unique positon for any small business in general to be in but a major achievement for the studio and the industry as a whole. Managing Director Lindsay is careful to point out the role that regional collaboration across the Caribbean has played in various capacities in getting the studio to this point in its growth.  He explained that the scale and timing of some of the projects, coupled with the diverse skillsets needed often requires Caribbean animation companies to collaborate to deliver.

A background illustration from the CARICOM mini-series Pepperpot Valley overlaid with the network of regional relationships relied on to produce it. Parts of this same network are used to produce other regional animation projects done by Full Circle. “On our very first outsourcing job, we collaborated with animation studios in Barbados and Jamaica. Since then, it’s not uncommon for us to work with animation studios in St. Lucia, Barbados and Jamaica for international outsourcing clients. We’ve collaborated on projects with Malfinis Productions in St. Lucia, Alycone Animation and Skyres in Jamaica and Westoonz and BIMAP in Barbados. We’ve also developed working relationships with a network of recording studios, casting directors and voice actors in Grenada, Belize, Suriname, Dominica, and Guyana for projects based on Caribbean content like the CARICOM mini-series Pepperpot Valley. The regional animation industry is still relatively young in the Caribbean. In that respect, a single animation project for either a feature film or a TV series requires a workforce with a diverse creative/technical skillset that can exceed the capacity of any one Caribbean nation. Fortunately, for a digital media industry like animation, location is not a challenge – but training is.”

Along with local support agencies that support services export, Regional organisations like the CARICOM Secretariat, the Inter-America Development Bank, Caribbean Development Bank, the European Commission and UNDP OECS have given Full Circle Animation tremendous support in their development over the years. The Company has also benefited indirectly from the investment that CARIBBEAN EXPORT has given towards supporting the region.

This is a historic accomplishment for the Full Circle and development of the digital economy in the Caribbean as a whole. One that exemplifies how the Governments, NGOs and the education sector and enterprise can work hand in hand to achieve and change the landscape of theeconomy.  Under the leadership of MD Lindsay, a creative business mind was brought into a creative space and out of it spawned a business model that is unique and applicable to the unique creative economy. Below the surface of this model is the seamless education thread that few are aware of and appreciate.  Students from the YTEPP Animation Retraining Programme, went on to complete the UTT Diploma in Animation programme and now ninety percent of the workforce are part of that thread that makes up the studio.  They have become an indispensable resource for the success of this industry.

This is a great example of success in the creative sector and the function of seamless education in a region of small islands that depend on foreign exchange. Animation is now heavily featured on the curriculum in regional training institutes. Programme coordinator for animation studies at the University of Trinidad and Tobago Camille Selvon Abrahams reminds us “Ninety percent of the young staff at Full Circle Animation Studio are UTT animation alumni. The current animation supervisor is a past student Mindy Bailey and most of the lead team are past students of UTT animation programme. Regionally this can be replicated as a model for our unique economic landscape. Led by a tried and tested managing director Jason Lindsay, this is an example to the Caribbean and world that perseverance pays off and we can create our future if CARICOM governments, education institutions and small businesses work in tandem”

Season 3 of the HBO animated series ANIMALS will premiere on August 3rd at 11:30pm. (PR)

Known for its spices and nutmeg production, Grenada offers great opportunities for agribusiness entrepreneurs willing to take risks and embark on a new business. Stephanie Ryan is one of them. In 2015, she and her partner Jim Jardine launched Summer Ltd, a company that produces healthy beverages from tropical fruits available on the island, such as mango, passion fruit, and coconut.

After a couple of years spent consolidating her business, Ryan is ready to expand across the Caribbean. LINK-Caribbean — a program that facilitates access to finance for promising Caribbean entrepreneurs — is supporting her business ambition through a co-investment grant.

Angel investors helped launch the business 

After visiting several Caribbean countries in a bid to find the best place to launch their company, in 2014, Ryan and Jardine settled on Grenada. “It’s a beautiful, safe island and the people are known for their warmth,” Ryan says.

“When we went to buy juice from the local grocery store we were surprised to find out that there was no commercial juicing facility on the island, despite the abundance of local fruit, so we contacted the government and started a conversation,” Ryan says. “We got lots of help with understanding the opportunities and the business climate and had some concessions offered with bringing in equipment. But there was no money or financing available.”

Ryan and Jardine got the much-needed capital from an angel investor. With the funding received, they rented and converted a 6,000 square foot warehouse from the Grenada Investment Development Corporation and imported the equipment to produce and bottle juices. With a state-of-the-art production facility up and running, Summer Ltd was officially launched in early 2015.

LINK-Caribbean is helping the company scale across the Caribbean 

A year later, Ryan and Jardine began to seek additional funding to expand the business. Ryan recalls: “The more I heard about the grant tool the more it seemed like we were a logical fit. Beyond financial support, we also needed business advice and counsel to help in areas where we’re not experts.”

She explains why the business investor wanted to get involved: “The person has property in Grenada, is passionate about the island and wants the country to succeed. They are also interested in sustainability and the environment and really saw the potential for this opportunity.” 

Ryan and Jardine used the grant to refine their products, launch a new bottle size, and boost domestic and regional sales. Their promotional efforts include a new logo, revamped materials, and two new sales staff dedicated to growing the company’s market share in the fruit juice sector.

“People are excited about the tropical fruit flavors and eventually we’d like to be able to take that taste of the Caribbean abroad,” says Ryan. “The grant will allow us to market our product better and help us to differentiate ourselves as an island product.”

The future of the company is in new markets 

The company has previously exported to Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States but has not been able to establish steady sales channels. Ryan hopes the grant will help improve the situation, along with bolstering secondary marketing support.  She highlighted that being at the end of the supply chain meant the company was faced with some high costs related to infrastructure.  This coupled with the challenging transportation systems within the region makes accessing exports more difficult.  Ryan is pleased to be able to tap into any support mechanism that are available.

The company plans to expand its current staff of 17 employees and develop connections with the local tourism industry by offering tours of the production facility. “There are integration opportunities because people are interested in knowing how you pick a coconut or mango and make it into juice,” explains Ryan. “So we can see the potential for farmers to show tourists how it all works. Also we’re up in the north of the country where unemployment is traditionally high so any integration with tourism in this area would be an exciting opportunity.”

As a seasoned entrepreneur, Ryan concluded our interview with a word of advice for other businesses in the region: “We came in thinking that we knew everything and didn’t need help but you need to take advantage of the different support mechanisms that are available through mentorships, grants and other financial tools. Do lots of research to understand the culture of the business environment and be resourceful. There is plenty of room for lots of successful businesses in the Caribbean region and people really want you to succeed.”

LINK-Caribbean is an initiative of the infoDev’s Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean (EPIC), a seven-year, CAD 20 million program funded by the government of Canada that seeks to build a supportive ecosystem for high-growth and sustainable enterprises across the Caribbean. The initiative is implemented by the Caribbean Export Development Agency.