From sweet local fruit favourites to innovative fruit-based products, the Fruit Festival gave small businesses a platform to grow while showcasing creative and value-added ways of transforming locally grown fare.
Cameraman Rajnauth Lal spoke with some of the participants, and Faith Cheruiyot brings the highlights.
The Fruit festival brought together entrepreneurs who displayed a wide variety of rare and familiar fresh and locally grown fruits, alongside value-added products ranging from beverages and preserves to healthy snacks and speciality foods.
Organizer Dilean Richards said the event is meant to educate consumers on the benefits of choosing locally grown produce while highlighting the abundance of chemical-free fruits available in Trinidad and Tobago.
“So its really really a good thing that we are having cause I think we are exposing persons educating them. The thing about it, we import so many fruits and we have so many natural. Even better, your own without chemicals. So I say this is a thumbs up to eating local fruits.”
Entrepreneurs also used the festival to showcase innovative products made from local fruits. Shirlene Edwards of Rich Everything displayed a range of fruit- and milk-based beverages, saying supporting local businesses not only encourages innovation but also contributes to national economic growth.
“I have my milk based beverage as well as my fruit based beverage. So I have, this is a milk rich chocolate, it’s a chocolate infused seamoss, and the one on this side is a mango punch. It’s more like a icecream so it’s very think and rich hence the name rich everything.”
Representative of the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards Vishesh Ramnarine encouraged producers to meet quality requirements needed to access regional and international markets.
“We need to start to understand what are the quality, infrastructure needs and who are the players in the market with regards to quality infrastructure services and in that way they could help their products break into that regional and international market.”
Organizers described this year’s festival as a success, saying the strong public turnout has encouraged plans to expand the event and create even more opportunities for local businesses in the years ahead.