Farmers are to supply thousands of kilogrammes of home-grown produce and pork directly to hotels and restaurants in a significant pilot project launched by key industry groups.
The scheme aims to break long-standing barriers between agriculture and tourism, challenging businesses to prioritise local ingredients in a sector long reliant on imports.
Organised by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), the initiative will see eight crop producers from the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) and pork farmers from the Barbados Pig Farmers’ Co-operative Society supplying thousands of pounds of fresh fruit, vegetables and pork to hoteliers and restaurateurs.
Details of the programme were made public on Friday evening during the BHTA’s quarterly meeting at Hayman’s Market, St Peter. This arrangement will support a renewed commitment by the BHTA to serve more locally grown food in the tourism sector.
Allister Glean, the IICA’s representative to Barbados, welcomed the development and stressed that for too long the farming community had been overlooked. He said it was about time both business and government leaders did more to support local agriculture.
Glean explained that the initiative forms part of the Chefs 4 Development programme, designed to promote closer cooperation between chefs and farmers.
“The whole objective of the programme is to create a network of professional chefs who are committed to using locally sourced ingredients in their culinary creations,” he told the audience.
He emphasised that the project is about building more than menus — it is about jobs, food security, and a sustainable future for local agriculture.
“We want to ensure that locally sourced ingredients are used in these menu offerings, and that’s why we’re here today, and we want to speak to you all — the decision makers. There’s value to this overall exercise. Of course, we want to create jobs. We want to increase the attractiveness of the industry. The chairman spoke about the bright future for the tourism sector here in Barbados. We want to showcase the culinary aspect of the industry. So we want to make it more attractive, make this a destination of choice. Not just for beaches, not just for sun and sand, but also for the culinary offerings.”
But the partnership must move beyond words into action, Glean stressed.
“For far too long we’ve been playing lip service or not paying enough attention to the linkage between the hospitality sector and the farming community, and that’s why I keep pointing to you, the decision makers,” he said. “With all due respect to you all, so far I’ve not seen them (locally produced food) on the menus of the restaurants, and that’s why I want to speak to you all this afternoon. We have to go from seeing those wonderful offerings in the back there to seeing them actually being on the tables of the fancy restaurants, the wonderful gourmet establishments here in Barbados.”
He also urged hotels and restaurants to make serious commitments that would support farmers’ capacity to supply the industry consistently.
“This programme calls on serious farmers,” Glean said. “Farmers who want to ramp up production. Farmers who are entrepreneurs, who are business people, who want to be able to supply on a consistent basis quality raw materials to the hospitality sector. We want to make sure and consolidate these arrangements and make it sustainable.”
The IICA official added that this programme could help with the island’s sky-high food import bill. “Right now, the food import bill is almost US$1 billion [$2bn] annually, and it’s so easy for the chefs and the restaurants to source their ingredients from overseas markets. But we have a responsibility to develop this country. We have a responsibility to our local farmers. We want to make the businesses more attractive, so why not start incorporating more of the local ingredients in your offerings.”
He said the next step would be collaboration with the BHTA and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to help strengthen farmers’ capacity to meet hotel and restaurant demand.
“We want you all to work more with the farmers. We want to make this a reality and not just to have a talk, we want more action,” he said. “We are going to work with the BHTA and the IDB… to strengthen that relationship between agriculture and tourism by building the capacity of the farming community so that they can better supply the hotels and the restaurants.”
The exact kilogrammes of produce and pork to be supplied under the arrangement are still to be finalised, with officials expecting to confirm those details in the coming week. Meanwhile, President of the BAS Fruit and Vegetable Division, Peter Alleyne, and Stevenson Cumberbatch of the Barbados Pig Farmers’ Co-operative Society welcomed the initiative and looked forward to its implementation.
Attendees were also given the opportunity to taste some of the dishes that will soon feature on hotel and restaurant menus, showcasing local ingredients.
(SZB)
The post Farmers join hotel supply chain in new pilot appeared first on Barbados Today.
