Ditch the 'foreign-is-better mentality' Buy local BY GWEN EVELYN Guyana Chronicle April 11, 1999 EVERY week `Moms' goes shopping for groceries, she is faced with difficult choices of what purchases to make. There are so many new and exciting things in the supermarkets. And these days, you can get one item in dozens of brands in colourful packages, produced in various parts of the world. One choice `Moms' does not have to make is whether to buy a foreign or local item. With so many products made abroad, who needs those that are local? After all, everyone knows that once it is foreign, it is good. The two go hand in hand. Hardly sparing a glance for the Marvex, `Moms' dumps a gallon container of Clorox bleach into her basket) and adds a couple of packages of foreign corn, a leg of foreign mutton, a head of imported cabbage and several bottles of guzzlers. And how about some of that imported salted beef, American chicken, Kellogs cereals, overseas jam and Flora margarine. `Moms' wants to munch on something while watching television so she selects a few packets of - brace yourself for this - plantain chips brought here from Trinidad. `Moms' never sees that clear plastic bag of chips made in Guyana. Maybe that's because it is not so nicely packaged. We have simply used `Moms' to represent a mentality prevalent among Guyanese today. A mentality that has frustrated several local businessmen whose products often remain ignored on supermarket shelves. Could the fact that many times they are ignored because those who pack the items see it fit to place them in some shadowy, lower corner of the supermarket shelf? Checks made by this newspaper found that in stacking their shelves, many supermarkets give priority to foreign products. At one supermarket, Baron's bottled green seasoning was given a prime shelf where it could easily be seen. It was purely incidental when local Major's bottled green seasoning was sighted. Foreign products dominated one business's juice section. But there was another sighting when a scanty number of boxed juices were eventually found in a little corner. With the cornflakes, only foreign brands seemed to dominate the shelves. Even the local pastas in one supermarket were put way beneath those made in Trinidad. Commendably, the C&F supermarket at Regent Street, Georgetown featured some local items prominently on its shelves, sometimes shoulder to shoulder with their foreign counterparts. Sadly, the local items have a tough time reaching the kitchens of many homes simply because everyone thinks foreign stuff is better. But this fact did not go unnoticed by President Janet Jagan who, for a long time, has been appealing to consumers to buy local. With this in mind, a `Buy Local' campaign was launched on April 1 by the Agriculture Ministry which is working along with the private sector on this programme. "We unfortunately like to love what comes from abroad instead of what we have right here," Mrs. Jagan said at the launch. And she is correct. Why else would imported mango chutney be given prime shelf space, along with foreign salted beef, pepper sauce, corn and mutton; hard, fried channa and plantain chips? Mrs. Jagan said that a buy local campaign has a lot of meaning. "It gives to our people more self-respect, reliance and a better feeling that you are supporting those in the various food and other industries" she said. Minister of Crops, Livestock and Fisheries, Mr. Satyadeow Sawh, is very enthusiastic about the buy local drive. The campaign has been around for a long time and this resuscitated effort is aimed at urging people to eat the things produced here, Sawh said. Sawh said he and President Jagan believe that too much foreign exchange is wasted with imported goods that can be turned out in Guyana. He said the campaign will also seek to stress to Guyanese that their country has items that are of good quality. "This campaign has been launched because we want to issue a timely reminder to our people that we ought to reorient our thinking in terms of supporting what we buy. We are asking our housewives, in particular, and consumers generally, that every time they go into the supermarket and pick up an item of purchase, they must ask themselves a conscious question: `Do I have a local counterpart that I can purchase?'" Sawh said. Sawh was keen on making the point that whenever something made in Guyana is bought, the customer helps to sustain and create jobs and raise the living standards for Guyanese. The Ministry's effort will highlight products that can be produced locally, Sawh said. A check made at the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) Supermarket at Robb Street, Georgetown found that there are several such items. They include attractively labelled mustard flavour edible oil by Prestige; Sari Miracle Seasoning; Best Way Tomato Ketchup; Banks DIH Ketchup; Jello that does not need refrigeration (this has a few foreign inputs); fruit juices by Chin's; Verde Condimento green seasoning; Major's Worcester sauce; Twin's Soy Sauce; Chi6nelle's mixed essences; EHP flavoured and traditional white vinegars; Prestige's essence of almond and a wide range of pastas. Leaves you breathless going through that list? We guessed so. Guyana produces a lot of things and consumers hardly know of their existence, we found. But, he warned, substandard products will not be tolerated. Manufacturers will have to maintain a consistently high quality, particularly if they are interested in penetrating the export market. People must have value for their money, Sawh said, adding that he is confident they can rise to the challenge. Coordinator of the Buy Local campaign, Mr. Nizam Hassan, said that manufacturers and suppliers are eager and enthusiastic about the promotion. He said that part of the campaign has been to encourage supermarkets to put aside a special section in their stores for local items. Up to the time of interview on Wednesday, five city supermarkets had agreed. They are Nigel's on Robb Street; C&F on Regent Street; Fogarty's on Water Street; Chand's Supermarket at Camp and Hadfield Streets and Mattai's on Water Street. Hassan said that these supermarkets, along with GMC, will each hold a special sale on a selected item per week until the buy local month is done. Another means of promotion will be a Guyana Night where only Guyanese things will be sold. And, Hassan said, Carnegie School of Home Economics will also host a luncheon at the Carnegie School of Home Economics where all the food served will contain only local ingredients. On the menu are fruit cocktail; cream of eddo or cucumber soup; fish in batter; curried chicken; Demerara rice; buttered yellow plantain; sauteed vegetable; coconut yeast ring; pumpkin pie; coconut cream custard pie; ice cream; ginger beer and fruit drink. Exhibitions of Guyanese products in various parts of the country will also be part of the promotion campaign and students at schools will be addressed, Hassan said. All this to get all the `Moms' to change their way of thinking and give local products a try. Organisers of this activity stress that nobody is saying that consumers should not buy foreign products. But do buy the local ones too. And why not? There is so much to gain in the long term for your country. Then again, you can discover some new spicy or subtle flavour that gives a whole new meaning to that boring old pot of stew. So go ahead and try it. You may like it. Home-made and good AS PART of the country's `Buy Local' drive, we will tell you a bit about some of Guyana's local manufacturers each week during this month. This week, we will begin with Chin's Manufacturing Industries Limited and Adventure Manufacturing Company Limited. If you are a local food manufacturer and want to be featured next Sunday, write us at Sunday Chronicle, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown. You can also fax us at 75208, or e-mail us at edit @ guyana.net.gy. Chin's Manufacturing Industries Limited: There is much you can do with five-and-a-half acres of land. And Managing Director of Chin's Manufacturing Industries Limited, Mr. Compton Chin is putting his lot to good use. The company began in 1975, by producing chowmein and condiments. And in 1987, it expanded to include corn curls, cheese balls, cheese-flavoured chips and pop corn. Chin's was the first in Guyana to manufacture corn curls, cheese balls and cheese-flavoured chips. In May, 1998, Chin's began producing juice, full-cream milk, peanut punch and chocolate milk. "Our products are doing fairly well, but we need more support from local consumers. There should be some restrictions on the volumes of imports of those products that are manufactured locally. A point in fact is we are not permitted to export our milk drinks to Barbados", a statement from the company said. The move by the Barbadian authorities is aimed at protecting the Barbadian dairy industry. Chin's believe that authorities should monitor the quality of imported products to ensure that they comply with our food and drug laws. And, the company added: "The local market is too small for the large volumes of imported goods". Recently, Chin's won a Quality Award for its Tropi-Cool and Dana products. Tropi-Cool is a juice available in six flavours and the milk drinks are produced under the Dana brand name. ************************************* Adventure Manufacturing Company Limited: This company started production of pasteurised `Juce Up' cherry drink at its factory at Queenstown, Essequibo, in mid-1997, using fresh cherries from its farm. The drink has an extremely high level of Vitamin C which helps to prevent the flu, heart problems, clogged arteries, strokes and other age-related problems. It is also delicious and has managed to maintain a high quality. Its manufacturer employs about 20 persons at the farm as well as about 25 persons at the factory where they produce `Adventure' jams, jellies and guava cheese. The company supports the `Buy Local' campaign since the livelihood of so many farmers depend on its success.