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Packaging, a major issue facing agro-processors
…agriculture symposium hears
Kaieteur News – Packaging of goods is a major issue which agro-processors are facing, an agricultural symposium at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre heard on Tuesday.
The issue came to the fore during the second segment of discussions among farmers where they were able to share their experiences on what they have learnt over the years in the sector. The symposium was held in the lead up to this weekend’s Agri-Expo.
Adaiah Fyffe, a young farmer /agro-processor, raised the issue of packaging at the forum on Tuesday and he directed these concerns to the representative of the new Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC).
Some Agro-processed items on display
He noted that since the agricultural sector is “heavily cash intensive,” in order for them to compete on the international level, “the government must subsidize heavily and even if packages are brought in, there should be a mark out that they should be able to but at a standard price across the board.”
In response, an official of the GMC said, “The Guyana Marketing Corporation imports the packaging materials in bulk, stores them and offers them at a subsidized cost whenever needed by the processor in their desired quantity.”
Fyffe said, “In this country nothing is streamlined, nothing is planned correctly. So we have issues whereby everybody buying and claiming packaging is extremely expensive. But I’d like to propose a solution that will be the support of all the agro processors.”
He noted that many agro-processors may not be selling 400,000 products per month. As such, the GMC should import an amount of packages to suit the demands of the agro-processors. He said the corporation should also include designing so that the agro-processors will be able to match international standards.
The GMC official noted that the entity caters for the demands of agro-processors for the packaging of their goods. “The Guyana Marketing Corporation imports the packaging materials in bulk, stores them and offers them at a subsidized cost whenever needed by the processor in their desired quantity.”
It was noted that in addition to offering the packaging materials, the GMC also conducts training sessions on packaging and labelling which are based on international standards. “So that the agro-processers, even though they may not want to use GMC to do their packaging, do their label design, they can use outside persons and have the same standard.”
The GMC official noted that packaging for agro-processors is sourced after conducting consultations with the producers and based on their expressed needs, the materials are imported.
The Agri-Expo is slated to open on Friday and agro-processors from across Guyana will be able to showcase their products and engage in discussions with stakeholders which will benefit their businesses and take it to the next level.
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