Business View Caribbean | February 2021

65 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN FEBRUARY 2021 V&S PHARMACEUT I CALS LTD and a bit resistant to this change. This did not deter him and he continued with his vision in mind, undaunted and focused on those patrons who were accepting of this new idea. It was not long before the products started to gain popularity and V&S Pharmaceuticals Ltd. became a household name throughout Trinidad and Tobago. In the 1980’s, the company started importing a product from the UK called Bengues Balsam which was already on the market as one of the more popular topical pain relief ointments. After some years, this company from the UK was sold to a company in the US under the name Bengay and so the Bengues Balsam, which was incidentally pronounced “Benjies” by most locals, was discontinued here in Trinidad and Tobago. At this point Persad saw a golden opportunity to capitalise and so he did – using the same ingredients and developing a new packaging, Benjie’s Balm was introduced to the local market. This product quickly became one of their any such product the pharmacist would dispense the appropriate amount into a sterilised bottle or jar and attach to it a hand-written label with the product name and directions for use. Persad recalls that the process was time consuming and so he saw this as an opportunity to possibly satisfy a need in the community and create a business. It was then he ventured into starting up a business as a Sole Trader. He began by purchasing packaging materials such as glass bottles and jars from suppliers locally and made contacts with a printery where he was able to get labels printed to improve on the overall aesthetic of the products being presented to the consumer. The business started off small with just a few products testing the market’s response to this new approach of pre-packaging these products, as opposed to on-the-spot filling and labelling. It was readily accepted by some pharmacies, however there were those who were skeptical