QPP exports to the Caribbean for the first time!
Quality Poultry Products is now available in the Caribbean, the island of Grenada to be specific. Earlier this month, the poultry producer from Spanish Lookout exported a container of chicken products to Grenada. It’s the first time they are exporting and according to the chicken company they delayed it by six months to ensure that they were able to meet the export demand and supply the local market. General Manager Raymond Barkman says that following their Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points certification a few years ago, exportation was on the horizon. With some support through Western Dairies they were able to successfully export their first shipment:
Raymond Barkman, General Manager, Quality Poultry Products
“Now we have exported one container to Grenada and obviously we hope that we can grow from there and hopefully we can increase staff and production and so forth. Obviously the big one is that we are a foreign exchange earner or we hope that we will be that which I know we badly need in Belize this time.”
Andrea Polanco
“How much did you send for this first shipment, Mr. Barkman?”
Raymond Barkman
Raymond Barkman
“Sixteen thousand pounds – that is a twenty-foot container in other words.”
Andrea Polanco
“Is this a onetime thing or are you looking to see this happening every month or every so often?”
Raymond Barkman
“We are hoping that it will happen every month or every week or as much as it can. But of course, Grenada has the population of a hundred thousand people so there are not a lot of people there. So, we are hoping this will be a normal thing for now on. This is the first trial and so we still have to see how the end result will be from this one and we have learnt a lot already up to now and so we hope that we can build on this one and see where it goes.”
Andrea Polanco
“What was the process like for you guys to get to the point of exportation and how did it go this time around?”
Raymond Barkman
“Obviously Grenada was chosen because Western Dairies is already there. They have a branch and so we are just partnering up with them, BELCAR, Spanish Lookout Community and so forth. So, that is why the starting point was Grenada and it is a little easier when you already have someone established who knows the people to talk to in order to get permits and the CBOs and so forth and so that is why it was a little easy to choose Grenada.”
