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Double Deuce domino effect - New agro-processing company generates jobs
published: Saturday | January 5, 2008
Contributed
Employees of Double Deuce prepare ackees for processing.
Double Deuce may not be a spectacular tile in domino, but the Chong family played a winning hand in St. Thomas.
Owned by James Chong and his wife, Marvette, the company officially opened on Thursday, November 15, 2007. Double Deuce [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Jamaica[/COLOR][/COLOR] Limited processes canned ackee, fruit juices, breadfruit slices as well as carrot, callaloo and mango juices for overseas markets.
According to James Chong, the processing plant has been concentrating on the production of canned ackee because it is "one of our biggest sellers and is also a profitable product".
For Double Deuce, it's a win-win situation. Not only has the factory found willing and hard-working employees in the parish, it has also taken advantage of the variety of agricultural products grown there.
He noted that when the ackee season is at its peak, the company employs some 120 persons, in addition to 10 full-time staffers.
Chong has the vision of an expanded labour force when the company begins to process other foods. He shared with JIS News plans to produce jerk seasonings, tamarind balls, sauces and other fruit juices.
"This would be necessary so that the workers are not laid off when the ackee season is over. We intend to have our factory operating all year round to provide jobs for the people," he added.
Lester Bernard, one of dozens of workers at the new factory, agrees.
"I enjoy working at Double Deuce. The work hours are flexible; I'm close to home and don't have the trouble of travelling the long distance to Kingston," he said.
At the moment, there is no difficulty finding products for processing. Chong said that supplies are sourced from farmers across the parish and also as far as St. Elizabeth. Farmers are paid immediately on delivery because he sees it as good business sense to maintain the consistency of supplies and also to build partnerships of trust. One of his goals, however, is to acquire adequate land in the parish in order to grow some of the crops needed.
This venture into St. Thomas, he said, would not have been possible without finding the right people. The idea for starting the business came about after meeting the Managing Director Mohammed Islam.
"The whole thing was based on people and management. It was all about having the right people to manage the business before we made a step into [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]investment[/COLOR][/COLOR]."
Work environment
The company promotes a supportive work environment for all its employees. It was, therefore, important to ensure that they had a clear understanding of what was required of an agro-processing company. So before work started at Double Deuce, training seminars, in [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]collaboration[/COLOR][/COLOR] with the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ), were held for the staff.
Chong said the plant has to adhere to prescribed regulations under the 1957 Process Food Act and the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. Even the construction and design of the plant had to have an input from the BSJ in order to achieve HACCP approval for both local and overseas markets.
"We already have the market in Canada and the U.S., so we do not have to go look for markets," he said, adding that plans are ahead to look into the [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]United [COLOR=orange! important]Kingdom[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] and European markets. The Chongs have been managing distribution operations that sell Jamaican products in New York and [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Toronto[/COLOR][/COLOR] for more than 10 years.
Chong is encouraged by the support and cooperation from the many government agencies with which they had to interact during the establishment of the business. These include Jamaica Factories Association and Jamaica Trade and Invest (formerly JAMPRO) and the Bureau of Standards.
In addition to job creation, Double Deuce is committed to community development. The Chongs have donated two computers each to the Yallahs Fire Station, and the Grants Pen Primary and Yallahs High schools. "We look after the community and the community will look after us as well," said Chong.
And what about future prospects for the business?
Chong said that he intends to continue to invest in the parish since there are real opportunities in agriculture.
Prime location
Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for Western St. Thomas, James Robertson, welcomed the opening of Double Deuce. He thought that St. Thomas was prime location for similar developments.
"We need to build factories. We have the capacity and we have a dedicated workforce," he said.
Senior consultant in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Omer Thomas, also supported the initiative, and said that farmers in the parish would have to increase production to support the facility.
"We have the climate, we have the people, we have the policy. It is for us now to put all of these things together and ensure that our agro-processing subsector thrives and makes an even greater contribution to GDP of this country," he said. - This is a special Gleaner feature in partnership with the Jamaica Information Service.
published: Saturday | January 5, 2008
Contributed
Employees of Double Deuce prepare ackees for processing.
Double Deuce may not be a spectacular tile in domino, but the Chong family played a winning hand in St. Thomas.
Owned by James Chong and his wife, Marvette, the company officially opened on Thursday, November 15, 2007. Double Deuce [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Jamaica[/COLOR][/COLOR] Limited processes canned ackee, fruit juices, breadfruit slices as well as carrot, callaloo and mango juices for overseas markets.
According to James Chong, the processing plant has been concentrating on the production of canned ackee because it is "one of our biggest sellers and is also a profitable product".
For Double Deuce, it's a win-win situation. Not only has the factory found willing and hard-working employees in the parish, it has also taken advantage of the variety of agricultural products grown there.
He noted that when the ackee season is at its peak, the company employs some 120 persons, in addition to 10 full-time staffers.
Chong has the vision of an expanded labour force when the company begins to process other foods. He shared with JIS News plans to produce jerk seasonings, tamarind balls, sauces and other fruit juices.
"This would be necessary so that the workers are not laid off when the ackee season is over. We intend to have our factory operating all year round to provide jobs for the people," he added.
Lester Bernard, one of dozens of workers at the new factory, agrees.
"I enjoy working at Double Deuce. The work hours are flexible; I'm close to home and don't have the trouble of travelling the long distance to Kingston," he said.
At the moment, there is no difficulty finding products for processing. Chong said that supplies are sourced from farmers across the parish and also as far as St. Elizabeth. Farmers are paid immediately on delivery because he sees it as good business sense to maintain the consistency of supplies and also to build partnerships of trust. One of his goals, however, is to acquire adequate land in the parish in order to grow some of the crops needed.
This venture into St. Thomas, he said, would not have been possible without finding the right people. The idea for starting the business came about after meeting the Managing Director Mohammed Islam.
"The whole thing was based on people and management. It was all about having the right people to manage the business before we made a step into [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]investment[/COLOR][/COLOR]."
Work environment
The company promotes a supportive work environment for all its employees. It was, therefore, important to ensure that they had a clear understanding of what was required of an agro-processing company. So before work started at Double Deuce, training seminars, in [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]collaboration[/COLOR][/COLOR] with the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ), were held for the staff.
Chong said the plant has to adhere to prescribed regulations under the 1957 Process Food Act and the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. Even the construction and design of the plant had to have an input from the BSJ in order to achieve HACCP approval for both local and overseas markets.
"We already have the market in Canada and the U.S., so we do not have to go look for markets," he said, adding that plans are ahead to look into the [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]United [COLOR=orange! important]Kingdom[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] and European markets. The Chongs have been managing distribution operations that sell Jamaican products in New York and [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Toronto[/COLOR][/COLOR] for more than 10 years.
Chong is encouraged by the support and cooperation from the many government agencies with which they had to interact during the establishment of the business. These include Jamaica Factories Association and Jamaica Trade and Invest (formerly JAMPRO) and the Bureau of Standards.
In addition to job creation, Double Deuce is committed to community development. The Chongs have donated two computers each to the Yallahs Fire Station, and the Grants Pen Primary and Yallahs High schools. "We look after the community and the community will look after us as well," said Chong.
And what about future prospects for the business?
Chong said that he intends to continue to invest in the parish since there are real opportunities in agriculture.
Prime location
Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for Western St. Thomas, James Robertson, welcomed the opening of Double Deuce. He thought that St. Thomas was prime location for similar developments.
"We need to build factories. We have the capacity and we have a dedicated workforce," he said.
Senior consultant in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Omer Thomas, also supported the initiative, and said that farmers in the parish would have to increase production to support the facility.
"We have the climate, we have the people, we have the policy. It is for us now to put all of these things together and ensure that our agro-processing subsector thrives and makes an even greater contribution to GDP of this country," he said. - This is a special Gleaner feature in partnership with the Jamaica Information Service.
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