From KN- Apr 23, 2019

DEAR EDITOR,

Having read the article in SN –‘Agro processors want more robust lobby for access to regional markets, local outlets’ I looked at the accompanying picture of the displayed products and noticed some improvements in bottling and packaging. I noticed that there were no recycled rum bottles used to bottle some products. More needs to be done in this area to ‘sell’ our products in foreign countries. Also for some packaged products you need the appropriate plastics. I now reside in North America and frequent the ‘West Indian/Guyanese’ stores to get my kind of food and would like to share some experiences with readers.
This might sound like a joke. First of all, one of the most expensive products exported out of Guyana is frozen water. You will find it as ice in packages of shrimps, some fish and katahar (breadnut). It should be noted that the addition of water to these products is to increase weight, hence more money for the exporters. It is easy to add water to shrimps and fish, but our countrymen are smart.
Katahar, after peeling, cleaning and shredding is bulky and light in weight. Someone found an indigenous way to increase the weight by steaming (pre-cooked) it so that it can absorb water. It is then packaged, frozen and exported to overseas markets. When it stays too long it has a bad odour and there is no manufacturing/package and best before dates. The same goes for fish, crabs, shrimps, dried fish and shrimps, sliced green mangoes, bilimbi, coconut choka etc. there are not manufacturing/package and best before dates.
Produce exported are also of poor quality. Guyanese have a tendency to export produce and no effort is made to grade their produce with regards to size and quality to attract overseas shoppers. This goes for most produce. Let’s take one; wiri wiri peppers, you have the good – all sizes – and the bad lumped together and sent to overseas markets. This should not happen, because very soon consumers will notice the poor quality and stop buying.
I can relate about a lot of fruits, vegetables and greens that are of poor quality coming out of Guyana. Some produce like boulangers, bora, seim, peppers, cassava, plantains, wiri wiri peppers etc., are now grown and exported by Jamaica, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, and are of better quality.
The relevant Ministries need to get their act together to put systems in place and come up with a detailed method of identifying each product sent to overseas markets and set strict guidelines for grading and packaging each product that meets or exceeds international standards.
Maybe come up a brand ‘Made in Guyana’ logo that they can give to exporters after qualifying them using strict guidelines and continuous monitoring. I for one wouldn’t mind paying more for a quality product and at the same time supporting our local farmers.
Also of note is the fact that even the ‘West Indian/Guyanese’ stores will try to hoodwink you by trying to ‘pass off’ their bad products, and you always have to be on the lookout for overbilling, and most don’t give an itemized receipt. So it seems that we have to be wary of our countrymen in and out of Guyana.