Mastering the value-chain system
THE JAMAICA Business Developing Corporation (JBDC) is well aware of the inherent difficulties of the value-chain system, requiring as it does the same high level of input from each contributor along every step of the chain.
Though cognisant of the potential headaches and other difficulties which had plagued other business operations and doomed them to failure, it still opted to go this route.
For, given the shortage of adequate raw material supply, it could see no other way of getting Jamaican producers up to the required volumes in terms of economies of scale to compete on a global level.
Janine Taylor, manager for the marketing services unit, pointed to the over-riding economic reality which informed its production template for its group of smallenterprise operators.
“There is no one producer who is going to able to do it on their own and with 12 persons here, if you were to just take this one product on its own, it may not survive, especially if you talking about overseas market, but together the line is stronger.
EYEING EXPORT MARKET
Our eyeball is really on the export market, but anything Jamaican has to be tested locally. You have fi dance a yard before you can go abroad,” she said.
“Because we are looking at value chains we have already started to engage producers of similar products. So we may not be able to get this particular supplier scaling up to meet that demand, but we can add two or three more of the similar products.
“It is really looking at what we see as some of the barriers. There is the ability to scale up if the market responds positively and we are looking at it and saying to clients, this is another way that you could do it. Don’t try and do it on your own.”
Access to the JBDC’s insight into and understanding of the dynamics is essential to getting into and then maintaining a presence in lucrative sectors such as the speciality food marketplace, especially given some of the local limitations.