Maybe Jamaica's future is in Reggae Music and Sports?

[Tilla]

I think it is going to be rough. We can hardly feed ourselves, but we want to export to niche markets.

We need to start producing food in enough quantities so we can reduce our import bill. When we start producing more than we can consume, then we focus on exporting to niche markets.

I also wonder if we can produce and do it efficiently enough to be competitive on the world market. In that way, you do not find Jamaican products selling $5 to $6 a pound more than the same product from other Caribbean islands.

[Time]

I think it is going to be rough. We can hardly feed ourselves, but we want to export to niche markets.

We need to start producing food in enough quantities so we can reduce our import bill. When we start producing more than we can consume, then we focus on exporting to niche markets.

I also wonder if we can produce and do it efficiently enough to be competitive on the world market. In that way, you do not find Jamaican products selling $5 to $6 a pound more than the same product from other Caribbean islands.

Did you listen to the video? There is enough explanation presented why we can't complete on the open market. We can try a thing in the natural food niche market where the public is willing to pay a higher price but that is about it.

[Mosiah]

Whatever the industry we choose you will need a literate and skilled workforce to compete or you are just fighting for the crumbs. Sports, music, tourism and hi-grade included.

Really? Yuh mean robots can't do it by themselves?

[Islandman]

LOL. I heard a speech the other day, the guy said that when the day comes where his laptop can find his printer without any help from him, then he might start wondering about robots plotting and scheming to take over.

[Assasin]

The things I listed are niche market to the export market, not to Jamaica. The fact is we have to produce things that have high profitability in the market place, not just thing to eat.

As a matter of fact most Jamaicans eat flour and rice, something we don't produce in any volume. We can't compete producing sugar, banana and other traditional crops, but we can make good money selling things like Blue Moutain Coffee, Yam, Ackee, etc. which is traditional Jamaican products that are in demand.

Subsistence farming alone can't help Jamaica, we have been practicing that too long without results.

[Assasin]

I still waiting to see a can of boiled yam on a shelf with Usain Bolt picture on it. How much technology and genius involved in that? -

[Stonigut]

It is not necessary that we actually have the raw material in jamaica, in order to compete it is strictly about using you wizzy and making the right deals.

[Stonigut]

So we have an image as a Coconut laden place but in reality, we are not due to that yellow blight. However that does not stop a company like Grace Kennedy to lock down supply in Thailand or wherever else there is an abundance of it and buy the raw product, produce, package and market it and you are competing in the world market with a Jamaican brand with Thai coconut or Indonesian coconuts just as grace has done. grace has not figured out the marketing or distribution angle in the USA yet and outside the diaspora community they are literally non existent.

There are hundreds of ideas and hundreds of things we can do to be the the Hong Kong or Singapore of the Americas but like our footballers our biggest issue is cohesive discipline for the greater good, nobody at the leadership level can act above their own self interest so we stay in the dungle until the smell leads to something.

[Don1]

grace has not figured out the marketing or distribution angle in the USA yet and outside the diaspora community they are literally non existent.

I disagree with this....although it may be correct in most backwaters

I see Grace spices & sauces in many non-traditional outlets... and clearly they're making headway going mainstream in a steady methodical way

What they're doing is smart... The margins in the grocery business are very thin and shelf space is expensive. If Grace started spending multiple millions building distribution channels all over the place along with high priced marketing to try to drive traffic ... they'd probably get their clocks cleaned by much larger operators

[Assasin]

I think our biggest problem with the coconut industry was a disease that kille a lot of coconut and the Coconut Board was clueless how to help the farmers. Now there is hardly any coconut on the eastern end of the island, and once bitten twice shy. As far as I know there was always some market for coconut.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...arm/farm2.html

Some of these government board do more damage than good.

An example is Coffee Board.
Blue Mountain Coffee selling for 40 dollars and above for a pound, high mountain selling for about 25 dollars a pound. Blue Mountain is the world Premium coffee.

Coffee board market it and they don't have real market expert doing the marketing. Blue Mountain is a big seller with Starbucks and in Japan. The Blue Mountain farmers have to take the price Coffee board give them because if they sell it otherwise they can be charged for selling their own product. So they can't make a deal with a supplier or even a local hotel.

Coffee Board sometimes don't pay all the farmers money or hold it for very long time, what encouragement does the farmer have to go out and plant. Know many people who pack it up in the 90 when coffee Board, Wallenford and Ronnie Thwaites company went under and farmers where owed money for their coffee. This lost put many Coffee farmers out of business.

We are simply not serious about farming.

[Jawge]

He has a point; Grace depends solely on the diaspora and I can tell you they are getting a beating in the coconut water area (pricing). The other brands seem to to go for volume hence lower price. It's easier to sell 20 cans for 99cents than move just 10 cans for a 1.25 usd. I see the same occurring with Jamaican restaurant in the area. They don't price their product to move in terms of volume they price it as if they are a gourmet and they are just a fast food in reality. This way they are restricted to the diaspora whilst the Chinese restaurants are priced to move by volume hence they sell to most ethnic groups in NYC.

I once read the can of a coconut water; that said Jamaican. It turns out it was manufactured for one of those asian countries mentioned by stoni. If Grace wants to get major market share in this town or even say the East coast it would have merge with one of the guys around here or sell some serious shares to them. If not it's just same old same old.

[Karl]

I disagree with this....although it may be correct in most backwaters

I see Grace spices & sauces in many non-traditional outlets... and clearly they're making headway going mainstream in a steady methodical way

What they're doing is smart... The margins in the grocery business are very thin and shelf space is expensive. If Grace started spending multiple millions building distribution channels all over the place along with high priced marketing to try to drive traffic ... they'd probably get their clocks cleaned by much larger operators

Agreed!
GK has this figured out.
The path is within the confines of available capital - millions being spent - ...and both sourcing products and building out of distribution channels continue apace with training and educating from within!

Also do not forget GK always has used outside 'know how' as necessary. At GK there is no place of blind egos...insular 'silly' positions (or for that matter hehehe!!! positioning).

[Karl]

I think our biggest problem with the coconut industry was a disease that kille a lot of coconut and the Coconut Board was clueless how to help the farmers. Now there is hardly any coconut on the eastern end of the island, and once bitten twice shy. As far as I know there was always some market for coconut.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...arm/farm2.html

Some of these government board do more damage than good.

An example is Coffee Board.
Blue Mountain Coffee selling for 40 dollars and above for a pound, high mountain selling for about 25 dollars a pound. Blue Mountain is the world Premium coffee.

Coffee board market it and they don't have real market expert doing the marketing. Blue Mountain is a big seller with Starbucks and in Japan. The Blue Mountain farmers have to take the price Coffee board give them because if they sell it otherwise they can be charged for selling their own product. So they can't make a deal with a supplier or even a local hotel.

Coffee Board sometimes don't pay all the farmers money or hold it for very long time, what encouragement does the farmer have to go out and plant. Know many people who pack it up in the 90 when coffee Board, Wallenford and Ronnie Thwaites company went under and farmers where owed money for their coffee. This lost put many Coffee farmers out of business.

We are simply not serious about farming.

...does the Coffee Board have anything to do with oversight? ...protection of the brand? ...managing prices?

The complete story is not told if there is no mention of activities that threatened the industry. That included fraud as in the pursuit of 'quick money' unregulated blending and misrepresentation of what was being sold tarnished the brand/the island's reputation and damaged ability to fully market what was being produced.

[Karl]

You ever hear Jamaican's speak of 'mi base' a reference to what was 'bread an buttah'?

...as such GK's base market is Jamaicans. ..a very, very important 'dem base'. ...but it is being blind to think GK is not on the path to capture overseas markets outside of the diaspora.

A careful look and you will see 'moves' and progress has been made. GK has long realized that her future (growth and viability) shall become more and more dependent on markets outside of those in which she currently has 'good' presence.

[Mosiah]

I think the point is it's taking a while! GK is not Goya and has a way to go before it can compete with that company that pretty much makes what we like to consume.

I see GK will start selling in Nigeria (or is it Ghana?) soon. That's good but I think we all realise if it had a good chunk of the Goya market in USA, Gamma and others would be very happy!

But as they say, nothing happens before it's time. Hate that saying really, because it's a convenient excuse for procrastination.