20 farmers tapped for fresh produce exports

About 20 farmers are being lined up to supply fruits and vegetables to the government’s newly opened packhouse, which is expected to begin operations by October as Barbados steps up efforts to export fresh produce.

Chief Executive Officer of Export Barbados BIDC, Mark Hill, told Barbados TODAY the export-focused packhouse, being developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, is expected to focus specifically on overseas markets rather than supermarket consumption.

“We’re also dispatching out cold chain capabilities to some key farmers who are part of that export packhouse programme. We’re going to be talking about 20 farmers, to help grow specifically for export.

“The packhouse is designed to address Barbados fresh produce, and there are seven targeted products that we’re focussing on for export. So the Barbados brand is not just around tourism, but Barbados also has a good brand and a good reputation around quality products as well.”

He listed some of the produce that will be processed for export.

“This is a packhouse for products such as hot peppers, because we have a tremendous supply of hot peppers, both red and Scotch bonnet, pest-free, meeting GlobalG.A.P. certification standards. So we’re working on that. So we can meet a lot of the global demand for peppers.

“Also passion fruit as well, which we’re scaling, so you get the vitamin C component without any challenges around pest impact from various biological things that can get into other jurisdictions and passion fruit, because it’s already packaged. So you don’t consume the actual shell, you consume the fruit.”

He explained that from a European Union Good Manufacturing Practice certification perspective, passion fruit is a far easier product to export.

The packhouse will also handle three varieties of sweet potatoes.

“The white, yellow and purple sweet potato, so that would be the Barbados fresh sweet potato that we brought off into the UK and the Canadian market.”

Hill said okra, breadfruit, squash and papaya will also be exported, with squash being targeted because of Barbados’ vine crop production quality and papaya for its health benefits.

The Export Barbados chief also explained that not all produce entering the packhouse will qualify for export.

As a result, the remainder will go back to the International Food Centre to be turned into value-added products.

“Because everything that comes into the packhouse is not going to be circulated for export, what we will do with the rest is value-add over at the food centre, and then they turn that into value-added products. So we’re reducing significant levels of waste.” (LG)