Sabrina N. Gordon, Business Reporter

Product catalogue of Caribbean Broilers' Caribbean Passion range of convenience foods.

In 2003, Claudette Tent had a bright, if not so novel, idea. Why not, she thought, vacuum-pack and freeze traditional Jamaican dishes for consumers, who are increasingly on the go, have less time for domestic chores, and demand easy-to-prepare, pre-cooked meals?

Tent invested millions of dollars in a facility in Kingston where she packs dishes, such as stew peas, stewed pork, curried goat, and oxtail and beans, under the Homestyles Jamaica brand.

On the shelves on Jamaican supermarkets, Tent's products compete alongside imported frozen food brands like Tyson, Perfect Blend and Tandoor, in a market estimated to be worth between $8 billion and $10 billion a year, but is mostly dominated by imports.

Tent does not reveal precise numbers, but hers remains a relatively small operation, producing 4,000-5,000 boxes of products each week. The critical thing, though, is that the business is growing and Tent is now exploring the possibilities for export. "As a small-business person," she said. "I feel really proud that I am doing something right."

She added: "The market loves the real Jamaican taste, the real home taste from which the name Homestyles was developed." But while Tent's initiative stands out, it is not the only success in the domestic food-processing business that has been showing new life in a largely moribund manufacturing sector.

"At the end of 2006, the processed-foods market was one to two per cent of total consumption," said Dr. Keith Amiel, corporate affairs manager at Caribbean Broilers, the animal feed and chicken-meat producers, which, earlier in the decade, went downstream with his Caribbean Passion brand of ready-cooked meats. Amiel expects that the ready-to-eat, processed-foods market will have grown by three per cent in 2007, to perhaps five per cent of total consumption.

Changing lifestyle

The growing demand for ready-to-eat foods, says Amiel, is related to changing lifestyle. People, for instance, tend to live further away from where they work, so they spend more time commuting. Or, they may be pursuing higher education, or engaging in leisure activities, leaving less time for the kitchen and preparing meals from scratch.

In some cases, too, consumers have more disposable income. "More and more, people, particularly women, are going back to school ... Thus, the need for pre-cooked, ready-to-eat food has increased dramatically," Amiel said. "With the change in living pattern comes the change in approach to eating - people want a more convenient approach."

Caribbean Broilers (CB) expects the growth trend to continue. It recently invested $200 million in a state-of-the art production system to guarantee and maintain the quality of the ready-to-eat meats it processes for the market.

Other large companies, too, have moved to cash in on the trend. Not least of these is Jamaica Broilers, CB's larger competitor in the chicken-meat sector, whose products are mostly marketed under the Best Dressed brand.

Two years ago, for example, Jamaica Broilers extended its product line to seasoned, ready-to-cook meats under the Reggae Jammin brand. It decided to extend that line with ready-to-eat products.

"Further-processed foods is the way to the future," said Jamaica Broilers' marketing manager, David Radlein.

"It has become the trend now. With both parties of the household working, they have less time to cook." Among Jamaica Broilers' more popular ready-to-eat products is its Reggae Jammin rotisserie chicken, which, according to Radlein, has grown significantly in volume since its introduction.

Business strategy

Jamaica Broilers prepares the meats and displays them on heated grills in several of the retail outlets where the product is sold. "When the company started it was 100 per cent raw (products)," said Radlein. "Now, we are seeing five to seven per cent of total weight being further-processed."

GraceKennedy, the Jamaican conglomerate which is again bringing food - its marketing, distribution and manufacture - to the centre of its business strategy, has also moved to cash in on this growth in the market for the convenience of ready-to-eat foods. "The strategy that we have embarked on is to create convenient foods for the 'Now Generation'," said Anthony Lawrence, business development manager and team leader at the company's Grace Foods division.

Grace has launched a range of ready-to-eat traditional porridges on the market. They have been doing, the company said in May, better than projected.

But GraceKennedy sees its market not as only Jamaica, but Jamaican and Caribbean communities elsewhere in the world. In October, it launched a line of Caribbean traditional meals in Canada and the United States, which it intends to bring to the Jamaican market at the completion of relevant market studies. But, taking full advantage of the growing opportunities for ready-to-eat foods, if it is to be done on a substantial scale rather than as a cottage industry, demands investment in research and development. That can be both expensive and time-consuming, GraceKennedy's Lawrence explains.

Feasibility testing

A product such as the instant porridge can take up to two years from the inception of the idea to when it reaches the market. "An important aspect of product development is feasibility testing at every stage of its development," Lawrence said.

"If this benchmark is not met, then it requires a return to the drawing broad." "Having done your opportunity investigation, then one has to figure out how to commercialise the product," he added.

Caribbean Broilers' Amiel warns that a failure by Jamaican firms to recognise the opportunities in the ready-to-eat market will leave it open to imports and the further deterioration of the manufacturing sector.

And like Homestyles' Tent, he believes that Jamaican operators have an advantage: an understanding of the Jamaican taste. "By producing these products in a different way - adding the Jamaican taste, a touch of spice - then a strategic advantage can be gained over the imports," he said.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com