Exhibitors praise inaugural Agri-Tourism Expo

Nov 06, 2019 News

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The first Agri-Tourism Expo is being showered with praises by participants who transformed the Arthur Chung Convention Centre into a sea of locally produced products.

The event which commenced last Thursday and culminated Sunday evening with an extravagant fashion show, was hosted by the Department of Tourism within the Ministry of Business, in collaboration with the Guyana Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Agriculture.
The exhibition provided manufacturers with a platform to sell their products, and they surely did, with exhibitors reporting that most, if not all, of their products were sold out.
One such exhibitor was Sandra Craig, the owner of S&S Bar-B-Que sauce. She was all smiles and was eager to introduce her product when Kaieteur News visited her showcase. While most persons are accustomed to the traditional Bar-B-Que sauce, Craig is currently producing them in seven different flavours made from real fruits.
Her product, which is on the shelves of all major supermarkets, comes in the following flavours: ginger and garlic, pineapple, sour sop, passion fruit, golden apple, guava and tamarind.
Craig boasted that her product has been a hit because of its unique texture and flavours; and for her there is no stopping, as

she will be adding new flavours very soon, much to the excitement of her customers’ taste buds.
When the Guyana Manufacturing Services Association hosted its 25th annual awards in 2017, Craig was given an award in recognition of the pioneering spirit of entrepreneur to produce local fruit flavored barbeque sauces. To date, she has participated in many exhibitions both locally and internationally in Barbados, Canada and St. Lucia, just to name a few.
Agro-processor, Donnella Dorway, of Double D’s Packaging produces a wide array of pepper sauces. There is the mustard and mango, carrot, bilimbi and multi-flavoured pepper sauces. Dorway said that she started out making pepper sauces for a fast food restaurant. However, after resigning, she began making for family and friends who flooded her with good reviews and the idea of starting her own business.

According to her, the public response to the exhibition has been overwhelming. She said that while business has been good most of the times, there have been challenges.
Patricia Richardson, another exhibitor, had a wide variety of herbal products for sale. Among them were hair, detox and massage oils, and oils made from turmeric, aloe vera and coconut. Richardson, who related that she has been doing business for the last two years, said that she was inspired after meeting a woman who was getting sick often. She revealed that she grows most of the ingredients used in her products.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Gibson, a Barbadian textile artist/designer, has been perfecting her skills for the about three decades. She is skilled at applying all sorts of designs to all kinds of fabrics. She, however, admitted that she prefers to work with natural fibres. Some of her techniques include: tie dye, block, and stencil and brush design among others.
She explained that she has been intrigued by art since childhood and knew she had to get a job in this field. She stated that her customers mostly include persons who have a love and appreciation for unique items.
Tara Bentick and Nyota Killikelly, both of the Guyana Women Artists Association, were quite the centre of attraction with their hand designed jerseys, cards and cups. Bentick had several hand stencil/hand painted cards on jute fabrics. She does hand painted teacups, too. The paintings on the teacups are mostly of flowers grown right here in Guyana.
She is a graduate of the Burrowes School of Art and is a regular participant in these of exhibitions. Her colleague, Killikelly does hand paintings on t-shirts. She also does tye die.

According to her, “Sometimes, I would prefer to do a simple design, and then other times I would want to do something intricate. I have been doing this since I was a teen but as I grew, I advanced in the field.
“I have always liked art; I have been exposed to various art workshops, summer classes as a child and from there on, I realised I was a born artist. And as I grew, I just continued in this same field. I joined the Women Artists Association in 2000.’’
As for John Luke, of Luke’s Manufacturing, the public has been in support of his products since they are one hundred percent natural. The company manufactures passion fruit essence, honey, green seasoning, sorrel wine and all-purpose power sauce. Like the other exhibitors, he, too, said that he was grateful for the public support.
At the opening of the Expo, Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder, had stressed, “…In Guyana, agri-tourism is a category that needs to be exploited, to be branded as a unique product from Guyana, not only to attain foreign arrival targets but also to put more money in the pockets of our farmers and the nation in general.
It is a sustainable tourism programme that promises a win-win outcome.”

 

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