Business View Caribbean | July 2022

32 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 7 department, the best bakery department, just to make the shopping experience better.” Although locally sourced products are not as plentiful on the islands, where dry hot weather is the norm, the Van den Tweel Group does support local farmers wherever possible. “For example,” offers Barrientos, “In Aruba, there are people growing lettuce, some of them have farms for eggs, some of them are growing mushrooms. So, within this small offering, we try to support as much as we can and sell the goods that are being produced in each one of the islands.” As tourism returns and life gets back to some semblance of normal, Barrientos sees continued opportunity for the Van den Tweel Caribbean Group, with potential for more acquisitions throughout the Caribbean, and a planned remodel of the stores in Curacao and Bonaire in 2023. He indicates that with a strong executive team the group is also planning to centralize operations, working out of company headquarters in Curacao. In summary, he adds, “We have reached a point where we are a mature group. We are ready to improve the things are not 100% in the stores. Our goal is to grow the group and continue bringing the best shopping experience to all the islands in the Caribbean.” PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n Medina Baking & Powder Products www.medinabaking.com