Business View Caribbean | April 2021

45 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN APRIL 2021 CAR I BBEAN HEALTH FOODS L IMI TED positioned itself here to fulfill market demand.” Choosing Trinidad was the right decision, as the company has grown from a simple factory of 10 workers to a semi-automated manufacturing facility of about 90. The team manufactures and distributes food items under the brand name Natural Delights. Products include fan favorites such as lactose free yogurt, and Triflitos cereal made up of corn, oats, and rice flour. There are snacks like ginger granola bars and sesame seed cookies; whole grain and multi-grain breads are available including options for diabetics made with flax seeds and sweet potato. There is even a cold line of frozen veggie ‘meats’ like sausages and patties. The company distributes these products in its four retail stores throughout Trinidad. “Each location is run on a cloud-based retail management system, so I can log onto it to see what has sold or what stock is available,” explains Balgobin. But it doesn’t stop there. Last year Caribbean Health Foods opened a casual dining vegetarian restaurant called Newstart – a deli and bistro which is doing well. Some of this company success can be attributed to local ingredients. “Our base ingredient, oats, is imported,” says Balgobin, “but everything else is sourced locally – from sugar to oil to flour. We’re making a deliberate attempt to source more local products. We’ve already started, but we’re going deeper and making it even more prominent in our manufacturing process.” To achieve this, cultivating and maintaining working relationships with local companies is essential. National Flour Mills Limited, the flour milling and dry mix manufacturer in Trinidad and Tobago, is one example of Caribbean Health Foods’ consistent supplier partnerships. Others include Nature Mix, and Pepe’s Marketing Ltd.– a provider of natural products like seeds and dried fruit. These pure ingredients create flavor combinations that customers crave. While discussing a specialty bread containing cassava,