Business View Caribbean - April 2015 71
positive perception of Jamaican brands worldwide and
the adventurous nature tourists develop when visiting
the island.
If they get exposed to it and develop a taste for it, he
said, that taste will soon spread.
“There’s a certain amount of crossover, but it isn’t as
much as we’d like it to be yet,” McDonald said. “Other
Caribbean people are warming toward our product.
What we’re trying to do is develop some non-Jamaican
type recipes for foreigners. We have an ackee quiche,
a caraloo quiche. We have an ackee shrimp lasagna.
They are some more international interpretations of
our local ackee dish.”
To McDonald’s son, Bronson, a Canco director who ini-
tiated creation of a side business – Ecowells – that
collected organic waste and produced and marketed
composts, organic fertilizer and agricultural produce,
finding new audiences and destinations isn’t just an
objective, it’s a mandate.
Toward that end, and in addition to ackees and calaloo,
the company is considering getting into jerk season-
ing production, and it already has a canned rice and
peas product that’s gotten good traction, in addition to
jams, jellies, spices and sauces.
“You spend a lot of time just trying to keep yourself
afloat,” he said.
“It takes a lot of money to cross over, and to do the
marketing to crossover. We’ve made some arrange-
ments in North America that we feel will give us a bet-
ter foundation for crossover. We definitely see that as
a focal pillar of our entire growth strategy. Ethnic food
in the U.S. is growing at a very rapid pace, and within
that segment, Caribbean cuisine is one of the fastest
growers.
“It is definitely an intention of ours to try and hit that
sweet spot.”
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Bureau of Standards Jamaica (bsj.org.jm)
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