“HAB it” – fulfilling customers’ every shipping need

Aug 10, 2014 News

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With a catchy slogan, “if you have to have it…HAB it”, HAB International, Inc, has not only made a name for itself in the shipping arena but it has been evolving over the years to better a service that is already unmatched in these parts.
With offices in Doral Miami, Florida, United States, and at Lot 1 Eccles, East Bank Demerara, the company has been attracting an ever growing customer base.

Speaking to this publication about the evolution of the company during a recent interview was manager of the Miami branch, Ms. Tina Beharry.
She recalled how her father, Harold Beharry, owner of the reputable Swiss Machinery establishment at Eccles which has been in existence for more than three decades, decided a few years ago to bring into being a service to facilitate the shipment of spare parts to his customers.
Moreover, he introduced a shipping service which was, at the time, simply dubbed HAB. And while Tina, the youngest of three siblings, was long convinced that the name of the company was her father’s initials – Harold Anthony Beharry, she said that her father always insisted otherwise. His argument was that since his wife was as much a part of the company as he, HAB represented Harold and Brehaspatie (his wife).
But according to her HAB.it was in fact crafted by customers.  “We didn’t even come up with that. Customers would say just ‘Hab it’ and it was something that somebody may have said once or twice then all of a sudden we realised that all our customers were calling us ‘Hab it’…we liked it and we stuck with it,” related a smiling Tina.
Nevertheless, the ultimate aim of HAB was to offer a way to ship needed items within 24 hours to Guyana, Tina recounted. She informed that at the time, there were no other freight companies providing such a crucial service.
HAB was established in 2001 catering mainly to miners and farmers to relieve them of any possible down time.
But although the target customers in the inception were limited, Tina said that an increasing number of persons started appealing for access to the service as well.
And so by 2007 a bright and ambitious Tina was thrust into a managerial capacity at HAB, her father’s brainchild. “I joined to see what it is we can do with regard to being a freight company and making it into its own establishment that could stand on its own outside of Swiss Machinery,” Tina disclosed.
Since Tina’s inclusion in the venture, the company has evolved into a fully functional shipping establishment providing air, ocean, mailbox and online account services, which are among the features that make it markedly different from its competitors.
But according to the young executive, one of the things that the company is currently emphasising is the feature which brought it great attention in the early days – daily express airfreight.
This has seen the company teaming up with Caribbean Airlines and according to Tina, “we are the only company that can get you airfreight within 24 hours from Miami to Guyana. So for any emergencies, whether it is to avoid downtime, whether it is for medical supplies or for an event such as weddings…we will send whatever they need the next day.” However, the company is able to offer its regular services three times weekly utilising multiple carriers.
At present, customers can also benefit from virtual warehousing, consolidations, pick-ups and delivery, trucking and even purchasing services.
While the company has in excess of 10,000 local customers, it has also since been able to tap into the Trinidad and Kingston, Jamaica, markets. And it was being able to deliver services that others couldn’t, that really allowed the company to infiltrate the other Caribbean markets.
Tina recounted how HAB was instrumental in providing the Trinidad Heart Institute with a crucial fuse for a machine to facilitate an operation the following day.  “We were the only ones able to get it to them without them having to fly someone to do it…,” said Tina as she noted that that service cost as little as US$30.
“Our (shipping) prices are very, very competitive and we operate 365 days a year, Sunday to Sunday, Christmas, New Year’s, everything in between, and no other company offers such a service,” boasted a confident Tina.
And according to her, the shipping company is available to companies as well as individuals with shipping needs. She pointed out that HAB’s survival over the years has been premised on listening to its customers’ needs and tweaking its services to offer them exactly what they desire. Moreover, she noted that the common feedback coming from customers is simply that of “satisfaction.”

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