Jacqueline (Jackie) Butcher is just one of maybe thousands of Guyanese who, over the past decade or so, have become increasingly attracted to agro-processing, both as a means of satisfying their own penchant for ‘invention’ as well as pursuing a post-retirement employment strategy.
Hers is a bit of both. Her particular specialisation is in the creation of a variety of pepper sauces riskily flavoured with fruit as varied as pineapples and oranges. Some experiments of these kinds do not work. However, much to her delight and crucially to the popularity of her products, her experiments did. But that is only part of the story. What appears to delight her even more is that agro-processing has thrown up an exciting option once she eventually takes her leave of teaching.
On Sunday March 24, Jackie, like scores of other agro-processors, found her way to UNCAPPED 1V at Providence on the East Bank of Demerara. There is a sense in which the UNCAPPED event has been one of the lesser heralded developments in the business sector. At its heart it is largely about the impetus that it has provided for large numbers of mostly ordinary women to parade their skills, their ingenuity and their capacity to create. Jackie is one of these and when the Stabroek Business spoke with her both before and after UNCAPPED 1V it was clear that the Butcher brand, complete with business registration and a range of labelled products will expand into much more once her stint at the Harold Davis Special School eventually comes to an end.
