By: Staff Writer
May 21, 2021
A Jamaican exporter sees double digit sales increase after Caribbean Export Development Agency’s (CEDA) Direct Assistance Grant Scheme (DAGS) inputs and is now earning more foreign exchange he didn’t have before.
Jordan Dawson, chief executive officer of Dawson Trading Company Limited, told Caribbean Magazine Plus after benefitting from CEDA’s DAGS that: “Our company was very happy that CEDA was able to provide grant funding to help develop the future of our company, country and the Caribbean. Financing through banks and other organizations has proven to be very time consuming and expensive for smaller enterprises. Grant funding from CEDA has allowed my company to avoid the high expenses, fees and time consuming correspondence associated with those other forms of financing. It allowed my company to further develop its product offerings to our consumer base.”
In the immediate term, CEDA said about Dawson Trading, “The production equipment acquired, through the DAGS, has enabled Dawson Trading to create a new line of six different shelf stable flash frozen fruit products. This has allowed the company to increase the quantity of produce purchased from local farmers. Notably, these purchases now include bruised and below standard fruit, which would previously have been discarded. This action has, therefore, reduced wastage and increased revenue generated for Jamaican farmers.
“The acquisition of machinery for processing fresh produce was central in producing a new product line of frozen fruits, for the export market. Frozen products are now exported to North America, Europe, and the Caribbean. It has also increased the volume of purchases, reduced spoilage, and increased revenues for suppliers, by purchasing below standard produce (with no effect on the final quality of the product) and higher volumes during peak bearing season.
“In addition, the company developed a website and a logo. Training was carried out for the implementation of food safety standards for key staff members and major work was done on documentation and improvement of the facility towards HACCP certification.”
Dawson Trading Company Limited (DTC) was established in 2013 by Mr Dawson. The company specializes in the growth, procurement, and exportation of traditional Jamaican fresh produce including mangoes, breadfruit, avocado, peppers, and yams, to overseas markets, primarily Canada, USA, and the UK.
Entrepreneurship has always been a part of Jordan Dawson’s life. From selling collector cards to t-shirts he always found an innovative way to make money from entrepreneurial ventures in his earlier years as Jordan’s DTC was formally established in 2013. It’s an export company based in Jamaica that currently deals solely with fresh Jamaican produce, primarily St. Julian Mangoes – a favourite of many known worldwide for its smooth texture and exceptionally sweet taste. The majority of their produce is purchased from nearby local farmers, and they also have a controlling interest in other farms.
DTC currently supplies to distributors directly in Canada and the UK. Jordan exports natural and organic produce, in order to meet the overseas demand for new and interesting tastes that are clean and healthy. DTC is a Jamaican company making waves in exportation while creating employment for persons in rural St. Thomas, a market and income for farmers and earning foreign exchange for Jamaica.
Over the medium term CEDA says that DAGS has enabled DTC to increase staff by six employees, namely an administrative assistant, a driver, and four labourers. In 2020 the company’s exports increased by 17 percent and revenue/sales increased by 20 percent. Of this percentage 2 percent was from the flash frozen line. The project also significantly increased revenue for local farmers because they can now sell more volumes including bruised products.
CEDA added: “The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the export demand for fresh produce which were previously Dawson Trading’s primary export and the new product line provided considerable revenue to supplement the shortfall. Further, Dawson Trading’s increased purchase volumes from local farmers supplemented the farmers’ revenue shortfalls that occurred, due to shutdowns in the tourism sector (hotels).”
IMMEDIATE IMPACT SNAPSHOT:
Product Development – 6 new (shelf stable) products;
MID-TERM IMPACT:
Increase in staff – 6;
Increase in exports – 17%;
Impact on Sector (suppliers, etc.) – increased revenue;
Increase revenue/sales –20%;
The long term outlook looks strong for DTC as well as Mr Dawson said: “The funding has put us on the first step in the development of our new line of products that tackle some of the challenges that our company has experienced in the fresh produce sector. Being able to take these steps earlier than later will have compounding value for our company. The new lines that were developed through the CEDA grant support has had a ripple effect outward from our company. We’re able to purchase more produce from our suppliers, we are also able to provide more work and increase income for our workforce and we are able to earn more foreign exchange and revenue for Jamaica.”
Mr Dawson said that he is currently looking for distributors who deal with the frozen chain and who would be interested in niche Jamaican IQF produce items. “We offer several product lines that fit in the B2B and also retail space, all our products are made from 100 percent Jamaican high quality produce made right here in the Caribbean,” said Mr Dawson.
Mr Dawson said he would “most definitely” recommend CEDA’s DAGS to other entrepreneurs, but he cautioned, however, “The most difficult part of the process is the high paper trail load which is required for the funding. It can get time consuming for a small company team to manage a large amount of items falling under the project scope. This being said, the staff at CEDA is very responsive and willing to help and guide so this surely helped our company.”
On another note, the and despite the significant success DTC had, it, like so many other Caribbean businesses are not immune to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Dawson said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted our typical revenue streams which relies on air traffic to ship fresh produce from Jamaica overseas. This being said the additional line of products have done wonders during COVID-19 in giving us that additional revenue that does not rely so heavily on air freight. This has strengthened our business through diversity and allowed us to weather the storm.”