THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

“Come 2021, Jamaicans should be able to buy into Sweetie, and I’m readying the company from now,” PatriaKaye stated. Part of that getting-ready process is expanding product lines. By next year, a new assortment of sour flavours such as tamarind, passion fruit, and Jamaican cherry will be available, as well as taffies and gummies – or ‘juju,’ as Jamaicans call them.

Being proudly Jamaican is a key part of Sweetie’s identity. “I am first and foremost a marketer, and before I even made the first sweetie, I was very clear about what the identity of my brand was going to be: execution, excellence, Jamaica first. So throughout that R&D process and even today, I still think anything that needs to be done or purchased or executed, can I get it in Jamaica?”

The only ‘foreign’ element you will find in Sweetie Confectionery’s candies is the natural fruit-flavoured oils that give them their taste. There is currently no local entity commercially extracting oils, and PatriaKaye doesn’t want to take up that aspect of production. “I just want to make the sweetie,” she said. “I’m encouraging somebody out there to go and start a business extracting oils from local fruits. As much as I can use it, the cosmetics and lotion people and the aromatherapy people can use that same oil. There are business opportunities waiting for people to tap into. I found mine. I’m begging other people to go out there and find theirs.”