CANADIAN EXPORTS TO BARBADOS may increase in the near future as more than a dozen well-established Canadian food and beverage producers, who see the island as a prime market to invest in, seek to either begin or significantly increase their exports to the island.
Barbados is an important market for Canadian goods and services with bilateral merchandise trade in 2010 valued at CAN$50.4 million (BDS$98.44 million). Exports from Canada to Barbados accounted for CAN$40.7 million (BDS$ 79.5 million).
Representatives of 14 companies were here last week seeking to build relationships with retailers, distributors and consumers during a food and beverage showcase hosted by the Canadian Export Development Inc. and the High Commission of Canada at Hilton Barbados.
They told the BARBADOS?BUSINESS?AUTHORITY?they were ready to get a foothold in the Barbadian market.
Their products included bottled water and soft drinks, noodles, meat and fish, shortenings and oils, liquid sweeteners and pastas.
President of Hubbert’s Industries, Bruce Hubbert, noted that the 112-year-old shortening and oil manufacturer began exporting to Barbados some years ago but the arrangement had “fizzled out”.
“We’re here to revitalize it,” he said, noting that the company was already exporting its products to neighbouring islands.
“Our exports probably represent between 70 and 75 per cent of our business. Obviously, there is a lot of export into the United States but of that 75 per cent I would say around 40 to 45 per cent is into the Caribbean,” he said, adding that exports had quadrupled in the past four or five years.
Meanwhile, chief executive officer of ShaSha Co. Shaun Navazesh said his organic food manufacturing firm wanted to target health conscious Barbadians with its gluten-free baked goods.
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ShaSha does not currently export to any Caribbean islands but the CEO said he had met some local distributors at the expo who were interested in his products although the logistics still had to be worked out.
“Over the last two days, I’ve been talking to a lot of people in Barbados – from taxi drivers to hotel people, to the people in the street, shopkeepers, buyers and distributors. I think there is an opportunity here to sell premium products as the people in Barbados are getting more concerned about their diets,” he said.
Sylvio Leger, vice-president of Leslie Leger and Sons Ltd, which has been a leader in the smoked fish processing industry for more than 35 years, indicated that his company already exported to several Caribbean countries including Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname, and was hoping to get into all the others.
He described the market as “tough” with a lot of competition and said this was part of the reason he wanted to reach out to new markets.
“We had five or six customers that came in, so hopefully, they’ll follow up and we’ll go from there,” he said.
Another prospective exporter was Marc Hooper, of Anderson Watts Ltd, which produces the number one selling ramen noodle in Canada.
He said that company had a local distributor for the past nine months but was looking to build other partnerships.
Hooper said Barbados was a “good market with a good standard of living”.
“We do regional business in this part of the world and I thought it would be good for us to come to this show. I’m hoping that we can get further contacts on the island . . . and try and get more success,” Hooper said.
