The Trinidad office of the British-Caribbean Chamber of Commerce is working in collaboration with one of its members, the National Agricultural Marketing Development Corporation (NAMDEVCO), to inform farmers, exporters, food processors, trade agencies and logistic companies on how to sell to the supermarket sector in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Wayne Punnette, represented the Ministry of Trade and Industry at a recent seminar in Port of Spain and his opening remarks focused on Trinidad and Tobago's trading relationship with the UK, issues affecting trade in agriculture and initiatives undertaken by the Ministry to provide support for trade development.

Mr. Punnette noted a decline in trade with the UK in recent years and spoke of the areas that had to be addressed to compete globally. He saw the seminar as timely, and encouraged collaborative partnerships to explore markets, pursue opportunities and to increase access to the United Kingdom market.

The BCCC’s Agri Consortium team at the event included Dr. Jonathan Turner, Athanosis Mandis of JP Fruit Distributors and Tim Moruzzi who provided attendees with information on the structure and trends in the UK supermarket industry, the distribution chain, and the requirements of the UK’s retail sector and the process of value added work in the industry.

Judith Lea Marchan said “The presentations were certainly enlightening as to proper preparation and understanding of the market requirements, systems and conditions necessary for exploration and access.” Sam Dowlath, CEO of Namdevco in Trinidad summed it up by stating that “this seminar opened our eyes as to the opportunities in the UK supermarket sector and the challenges to be addressed.”