Caribbean-born residents of the United States and their second and third generation offspring represent a market of more than 25 million people worth around US$6 B that is yet to be effectively exploited by the region, according to United States-based Guyanese business consultant Karen Abrams.
And Abrams told Stabroek Busi-ness earlier this week that there is an urgent need for local producers of goods and services that are in demand in that market to better position themselves to take full advantage of it. To do so, Abrams said, the Guyanese business sector must seek to understand the “dynamics” of that market and to “shape their production and marketing strategies to respond to the opportunity that it offers.”
Abrams, who travelled to Guy-ana to conduct an October 10 – 11 workshop on “effective strategies for maximizing marketing opportunities” organized by EMPRETEC Guyana Inc. told Stabroek Business in an exclusive interview that while the Caribbean continued to import billions of dollars worth of food from the United States each year, producers in the region were yet to take any meaningful advantage of the United States market for food produced in the Caribbean. “Whatever reasons we may posit for this shortcoming, it has to be regarded as a missed opportunity up to this time particularly in circumstances where food prices are rising,” Abrams told Stabroek Business.
And the Clark Atlanta University business studies lecturer believes that Guyana’s capacity to secure a greater share of the United States market for local agricultural and other produce can be realized if more emphasis is placed on seeking to understand global business trends and adopting production and marketing strategies that can contribute to more effective market penetration. “I have read in recent weeks that other Caricom countries, including Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados are now paying more attention to Guyana’s prospects as a food producer. That is not simply a regional phenomenon. It is a function of rising global food prices and the diminishing ability of countries in the Caribbean to meet those food bills,” Abrams said.
“From my own vantage point in Atlanta where there is one of the heaviest concentrations of West Indians in the United States, the evidence of a huge opportunity is pretty clear. United States-based West Indians have more disposable income and have become more health conscious. In many instances they have continued to favour Caribbean foods and have passed those tastes on to their children,” Abrams told Stabroek Business. She said that the evidence of increased demand among United States-based West Indians for foods produced in the Caribbean is to be seen in the proliferation of West Indian grocery stores and distributors and the vast amounts of Caribbean foods available in markets.
Abrams said that the available evidence suggested that Jamaica had secured greater success than other countries in the region in accessing US markets for products manufactured in the Caribbean. “When we consider the fact that the major American distribution chains including companies like Wal Mart have introduced aisles in their stores across the country to satisfy the tastes of immigrant populations, including West Indian populations, that provides some indication of the extent of the opportunity available to producers in Guyana and the rest of the region,” Abrams said.
Using photographs of West Indian supermarket shelves in her own Atlanta neighbourhood Abrams drew the attention of participants in the Marketing Workshop to foods and condiments imported from Guyana. “Part of the problem is that supplies are invariably inadequate and in the cases of some items once stocks are exhausted it takes a while for those stocks to be replenished. I would think, too, that in some instances manufacturers would want to work to improve their packing and labelling in order to enhance customer appeal,” Abrams said.
According to Abrams the two-day EMPRETEC workshop which was attended by representatives of several local business houses including Edward B Beharry and Company, and DIGICEL was aimed at familiarizing participants who had to make critical production and marketing decisions with the range of issues which they needed to take account of in an increasingly competitive global market. Commenting on the participation in the workshop by eight representatives of Edward B Beharry Abrams said that she found it particularly significant that one of Guyana’s more successful business houses still considered it necessary to improve its capacity to market its products.
Referring to the popular book The World Is Flat which she described as “essential reading” for businesses seeking to succeed in the current competitive environment she said that the advent and development of communication technology had “flattened” the world and made information more accessible to the global business community. “The truth is that the Guyanese business community no longer has any real excuse for not seeking to throw its hat into the global marketing ring more aggressively. The constraint lies in the underdevelopment of those business strategies necessary for us to compete more effectively in what has become a fiercely competitive international business environment,” Abrams said.
In urging participants in the workshop to pay greater attention to “the fundamentals,” – product quality, packaging, good customer relations and supply reliability Abrams, who is a partner in a successful party planning business in Atlanta, said that the fact that marketing had now become a more specialized and sophisticated business pursuit did not mean that the fundamentals still did not apply. Asked if she was prepared to work with local producers to help strengthen their marketing capacity and enhance their understanding of the procedures associated with accessing US markets Abrams said that it was for the local business sector to determine that there was a need to secure those forms of support. “As a Guyanese, where it has been determined that there is a need I would definitely love to contribute to a response”, she told Stabroek Business. “From my own vantage point I believe that more can be done both to enable producers to develop enhanced marketing practices at home as well as to increase market share both locally, regionally and in the United States,” Abrams said.
“In a global environment where businesses have grown used to the clich
