Breaking barriers in the local snacking industry

May 09, 2021 News

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Country Style plantain chips…

By Vanessa Braithwaite

Kaieteur News – With improved quality and packaging, local products have been breaking barriers and finding themselves on the shelves of local supermarkets and are even exported. This is a clear indication that our local manufacturers are upping their game in a very competitive arena. The narrative of ‘buy-local’ has become a media frenzy and Guyanese are now gravitating towards supporting locally-produced products.

One of those brave and self-driven local manufacturers is Dwayne Wade, the Chief Executive Officer of Country Style Foods – a local snack manufacturing company, birthed in the mining town of Linden.
Since plantain chips is one of Guyana’s most popular snacks, Wade decided that this must be his first product in his snack line-up. In less than a year, the company was birthed. This well-packaged, tasty, high quality, crispy, crunchy snack, is one of the first to grab to appease a munchies crave. Not only is it the definition of standard in its packaging but the product itself is well flavoured with natural herbs, free of oil and crispy to the last bite.
Wade said, he realised there was a large influx of plantain chips and other snacks made from local ingredients being exported into the country. As a result, he wanted Guyanese and the rest of the world to see that locals can manufacture something of the same quality and even better. “We import a lot of snacks and we want to prove that we can manufacture healthy, organic snacks of a high quality, with no excess calories, no trans-fat, gluten free and so forth. That, Wade said, was how his company was birthed.
What is extraordinary about this operation is that it started during a pandemic and has still reaped maximum success, even before the conclusion of the first calendar year. “We supply most of the retailers in Georgetown. We don’t have all the resources to spread across the country; we are working hard to do so; right now, we are in almost all the supermarkets in Georgetown and retail shops.”
Wade said that the journey to being recognised by supermarket owners has been a tough one but they soon realised that his product is just as good as the ones being imported. He believed the time has come for Guyanese to remove the stigma from local products and opt to buy local. “I think there is a stigma attached to local manufacturing that we can’t manufacture as high as what we import, we have that hurdle to go over and eventually we got over that hurdle and persons saw that Guyana is indeed putting forward a product to actually compete with what we are importing,” he said with pride.
Presently, Wade noted, Country Style Foods is manufacturing about 600 packs of plantain chips per day to meet the growing demand, which adds up to 16,000 packs per month. He has a dedicated staff of six who works six days per week to meet the target. What was important to him in this investment is to purchase modern equipment and machinery to make the process easier for his staff. This, he said, will also provide a healthier snack for the consumer. The only part of the process that is done manually is the seasoning and the packaging and this will be revolutionised when new flavours are added to the production. “Persons are now asking about the other flavours, so right now, we have two flavours that will be here…the ripe plantain chips and cheddar cheese because kids are asking for that. We will also be introducing sour cream and onion, barbeque and spicy flavours,” he shared.
In addition to new plantain chip flavours, Wade said the company will be introducing other lines of snacks such as sweet potatoes and cassava chips. “When we bring the sweet potato chips, we will have all of the same flavours attached to the sweet potato; when we bring the cassava chips, we will have all of the same flavours attached, with the same great packaging and everything. So we are encouraging people who are based in Linden to get involved in farming, especially ground foods such as plantain, cassava, sweet potatoes, because we are going to be using those things in a high volume when we start exporting…and I mean, we will need like 3,000 plantains per week and so we want the farmers in Region 10 to tap into that opportunity,” he said.
Presently, Country Style Foods is sourcing its plantains from Wakenaam because of the high quality required for this production.
Wade said that he is working hard to meet his five-year projected goal and that is to have an all-inclusive, modern manufacturing plant in Linden that will be producing at least 15 products. At that time, he projects the company will be ready to export but this must only be after he is satisfied that it is found in every region in Guyana. “When we are satisfied that Guyana has had its hands on this product, then we will export; we are not looking at giving the best away and leaving the pittances for Guyana, Guyana must have this product, we do this for Guyana, we did this so people can see what Guyana can do,” he asserted.
He also has deep interest in recognising his corporate responsibility by contributing significantly to education, sports and personal development of Lindeners. “After five years, we should be in a position to do all these things because in year one, our demands have gone up and I must say, I am very pleased about that because I took a risk in the pandemic to start a business.” The relatively new businessman is encouraging fellow Lindeners to take investment risks so that Linden is seen, not only as a mining town, but as a manufacturing town. “Whatever it is you are passionate about, do research to understand what the market needs and what the community is lacking. Take the risk and be confident about yourself and always do it to the best of your ability,” he encouraged.

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