Yesterday was the opening of the Miami Food and Beverage Show and Conference which was well attended by a number of Caribbean distributors and Research Officer Vincent Ramlochan was able to meet a few from Barbados, St Maarten, Haiti, Jamaica, Bahamas  and different parts of the US during the first day. He also attended a seminar on Flavor Trends: Hybrids, Extremes and What taste good right now which shared information on health drivers, health trends as well as 2018/2019 forecast trends for food and  beverages.

After walking the floor in its entirety as the show is not as large when compared to other food and beverage trade shows such as Fancy Food in New York, Vincent spent time at the RHS Global Inc booth meeting with Mr Hemraj Ramdath- Vice President who explain his integral role in successfully getting T&T products into the Florida market not only targeting the Caribbean Diaspora but also seeking to penetrate into the Latin and Indian diasporas.

He had an excellent surprise seeing local manufacturers displaying at the show such as John Dickenson and RHS Global Inc which represents the Karibbean Flavours Line and other smaller exporters such as Slimdown 360’s Mr Jody White with his impressive sweet potato and cassava pasta among others.  Many T&T companies were also spotted walking the show and scouting for new product opportunities

Karibbean Flavours Display and Other Caribbean Booths

At the end day, the Consulate General coordinated a successful meeting with Mr Absal Hosein who is a Trini national living in Florida. Mr Absal expressed a strong interest in the importation of agricultural products mainly peppers. This was previously done by him through Caroni Greens which is no longer in existence. With the help of exporTT and NAMDEVCO Mr Hosein is willing to speak directly with farmers to explain the process that is required by the FDA to ensure that the peppers will meet US standard and be allowed entry into the US market.