The final day of the Barbados Manufacturers’ Exhibition (BMEX) was a hectic affair which only grew more crowded as the day wore on.
Many exhibitors said Monday there was a lot of interest in their products, although it was not transformed into immediate sales.
“I find a lot of people did not walk with money,” said Hassan Gibson, sales associate with Caribbean LED Lighting Inc. However, he said the prospects for business were good, considering this was the company’s first time at BMEX.
Gibson added that the company used its presence at the exhibition to also educate people about LED lighting, the lower wattage alternative to both incandescent and fluorescent lighting.
“LED lighting can save up to 80 per cent off your lighting cost but just remember that lighting is only a small part of your overall energy bill,” he said.
This year’s exhibition featured more shared booths than before, said Bobbi McKay, executive director of the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association (BMA). This was evident with Apex Sales and Cherrin Enterprises, both new businesses to BMEX which teamed up to showcase their goods.
Cherrin is a window and countertop-making business while Apex provides wood and plastic composites that can be used as window frames.
Cherrin’s Claudette Phillips said the level of interest shown had been good, especially in the countertops, while head of marketing for Apex, Jeffrey Niles, hoped the queries would translate into sales later.
Also seen at BMEX was The Bruised Reed Project, an organization dedicated to preventing child sexual abuse.
“We have people signing up for our training courses so people are showing interest. We find child abuse is a large, hidden problem in Barbados as people don’t like to talk about it but our objective is to get people to talk because it is something that can affect our communities and, by extension, all of Barbados,” said advocate Lianne Hinds.
BMA president David Foster said there was a marked increase in the quality of products on show at BMEX. (CA)
