Jamaican businesses operating overseas are being urged to ensure that they follow the rules of those countries, by Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill.
“Do not mess with the law. Make sure you follow the right law in every country you operate in. People in business must play by the rules. If you want to go to Britain, do not come home and tell me that you messed up the rules… . Play by the British rules,” Senator Hill said.
“You go to the United States, you go to Trinidad, you go to Guyana, you play by the rules, because anybody who comes here, we want them to play by the rules,” he added.
The minister was speaking at the Clarence Benjamin Group’s global strategic press launch, held at Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) offices in Kingston, on April 5.
The Clarence Benjamin Group (CBG) is on a thrust to grow its brands (Clarence Dutchie, Benlar Foods and Benlar Fusion), through exports for its sauces and spices, and has positioned its business to reach markets through a direct-to-customer approach, selling Jamaican experiences through food culture expansion.
Hill also highlighted the need for more focus to be placed on exports to improve the country’s trade gap.
“Last year we celebrated our 60th, and I asked for the data from 1960… . I got 61 years of data. It is only one year in those 61 years that we had a positive trade balance, and that year was 1966,” he stated.
“It is so vital that we change that… . We are doing well. Our economy has bounced back from COVID, but our per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is too low. We need to be a rich country so we can afford those things that we want,” he added.
Regarding the Clarence Benjamin Group, Hill said, “The tenacity and hard work that you and your team have shown… demonstrates the keen awareness and understanding of running a business.”
Group Chief Executive Officer, CBG, Craslyn Benjamin, said the company has registered its international subsidiary “and our restaurant is basically ready where we will be delivering hot prepared meals using our amazing sauces, seasonings and spices coming out of Jamaica, delivering that to consumers within the European market”.
The goal of the CBG is international market penetration, and as such, JAMPRO United Kingdom has partnered with the entity to host a premier launch of their brands at the High Commission in the United Kingdom (UK), in May 2023.
For her part, President of JAMPRO, Shullette Cox, said with the growing demand for ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook ethnic cuisine and sauces and spices in the UK, Clarence Benjamin Group’s thrust is to elevate its brands and increase revenue through exports.
“This demonstrates that with a shift in strategic focus, and development of a renewed business model, micro, medium and small enterprises can establish and realise an attainable roadmap for success in exports,” she said.
