Grace Kitchens mission, programmes and significant activities over the years
MISSION:
To provide economical and creative meal solutions to homemakers and their families by utilising Grace-branded and Grace-owned products. To provide technical, current, and meaningful information on consumer related matters in a timely manner to assist our consumers in making informed decisions/choices.
GRACE KITCHENS: IMPRESSING HOUSEHOLDS FOR OVER 50 YEARS
If there is a company that demonstrates vision and food marketing savvy, it is Grace Kennedy. In 1969, through a strong edict from the then chairman the Honourable Carlton Alexander, Grace Kitchens was established to provide a direct link to serve our consumers. Consumer advocate par excellence and manager designate Doreen Kirkcaldy was exhilarated as she had long seen the need for such a facility. This was a first for GraceKennedy, Jamaica’s leading food manufacturing and distribution company and a first for Jamaica.
Grace Kitchens rapidly became a household name across Jamaica due in part to regular career talks in schools. She motivated many to choose a career in foods, including the late Dr Heather Little White, who wanted to be the epitome of excellence in the culinary field. Grace Kitchens’ islandwide popularity was also achieved through culinary specialists, who were employed to educate consumers on holistic living. The team included Pauline Chin Sue, Heather LittleWhite, Mazie Miller, Angella Grandison Reid, and Shereen Codner-D’Aguillar.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND SENSORY ANALYSIS
Grace Kitchens plays a critical role in the development of a range of staple products produced by our parent company. As a matter of fact, Grace Kitchens ensures that for whatever product that will be launched to our valued consumers all due diligence is done to ensure that it is of an extremely high standard. Several taste tests have been conducted in our beloved ‘Product Room’. This is where we taste and analyse products such as mackerel, cock soup, Vienna sausages, Tropical rhythms, among a range of others in order to ensure that quality and taste is adhered to. In the earliest days, one cannot forget the sheer diligence of Chef Vernal Reid, ably assisted by Judith Burnside Melbourne and Denise Wilson Martin, among others. They would habitually rise at the crack of dawn to prepare samples for thousands of consumers in supermarkets and wholesales across Jamaica. For the ‘Barbeque up Summer’ promotion in 1986, a record 4,000 frankfurters were grilled for sampling, a feat that saw the sale of frankfurters skyrocket that year.
TRAILBLAZER ROAD SHOWS
It was the Grace Trailblazer Road Shows that truly tested the mettle of the culinary team. To have enough food ready by 4 a.m. was no mean feat. This road show has helped in the development of creative recipes, a flagship of Grace Kitchens. Recipe development was a weekly event then and still continues. Recipes such as Turned Cornmeal with a difference, Corned Beef Dumplings, and Chef’s Special Cornbread are still popular today.
CREATIVE COOKING
This abundance of recipes led to the production of Creative Cooking, Jamaica’s first local television cooking show. Conceptualised and presented by the late Dr Heather Little White and taken to dizzying heights by Chef Mazie Miller, OD, and team, the show was taped using a modest set at then Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation and was directed by Don Buckner, with Louis Burke working the cameras. Dr Little White was co-producer and a make-up artist, just to name a few. Adrian Robinson saw the evolution from a modest set to that of an elaborate crew, which came to an end in 2009. Creative Cooking
served us well and has taken our recipes to the hearts and homes of our consumers home and abroad.
GRACE KITCHENS RELAUNCH
The unprecedented success of Grace Kitchens led to its relaunch and name change to Grace Kitchens and Consumer Services Centre in 1984. With a new name and a new vision, the team vigorously set about expanding its reach, the following year saw a rollout of an extensive all-island nutrition education programme, the Grace Kennedy School Nutrition and Health Initiative-targeting primary schools, church groups, parent teacher associations, and community groups. Regional offices were opened in Montego Bay, managed by Rosalie Brown; and Denbigh in Clarendon, managed by Mazie Miller. Nutrition clubs were also established in high schools to encourage students to develop nutritious recipes using locally grown foods.
REGGAE BOYZ NUTRITION PROGRAMME AND OLYMPICS NUTRITION PROGRAMME
In 1998, at the suggestion of its food and nutrition consultant, Dr Heather LittleWhite, Grace Kitchens became the official sponsor for the Reggae Boyz, who qualified for France to compete at the World Cup. Grace Kitchens continued to support the Reggae Boyz many years after.
Our own Grace Kitchens associate Chef Karl Thomas accompanied the Jamaican national athletics team to the Rio and London Olympics, where he advised and prepared meals for the athlete’s village leading up to the Games. Here, our parent company, Grace Foods, was the food and nutrition sponsor.
CREATIVE LIVING
Hosted by Colleen Beccles, Grace Kitchens partnered with Love 101 FM to air this programme that assisted our consumers with a range of topics relevant and suitable to their needs. We also shared recipes on this programme as well. Presenter after presenter would ensure they keep abreast of consumer information that spans home and laundry care, painting and beautification projects, among others.
SPORTS NUTRITION PROGRAMMES
As title sponsor of the Issa/ GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships, Grace Kitchens saw the need to help our athletes perform optimally. We recognise the role hydration and nutrition plays and we utilise experts in this field to partner with us. Whether it is at school groups, on the field, developmental meets, you name it we always answer the call. As we innovate and grow, we hosted our Grace Nutrition Zone at the most recent Championships, which was a hit with the athletes. We continue to do workshops and talks throughout the year with athletes at their coaching clinics and boot camps.
Grace Kitchens has embarked on this important activity since our inception up to the present. We recognise the need for sound education, especially at the early childhood level. Our programmes vary from fully adopting basic schools to the donation of products and appliances such as stoves, freezers or refrigerators, among other items. We also conduct nutrition talks and meal demonstrations. We stay true to our mandate.
GRACE KITCHENS PARTNERSHIPS AND EVENTS
Food is an important part of any event, and Grace Kitchens truly understands. That is why we make it our mantra ‘as the good food dem’ to continue this crucial activity. Some noteworthy events we have undertaken include:
• Denbigh Agricultural Show
• Caribbean Association of Home Economists - Grace Kitchens staff represented at regional conferences
• Participation in food and nutrition projects through CARICOM (Improving Household Nutrition in the region).
• Jamaica Cultural Development Commission Festival of Foods (honoured last year for over 55 years of Festival sponsorship)
• Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association and Health, Home and Garden Expos at the Arena.
• Port Royal Seafood Festival (Grace Kitchens Celebrity Cook –Off)
• Observer Food Awards and Salut
• Breakfast parties
• Health fairs
• School orientations (UWI, UTech, and Edna Manley)
• Radio programmes
• In-store promotions and samplings
• Customer appreciations
SPECIAL INVOLVEMENT, AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:
Some of the Noted Awards:
The GraceKennedy Dr Heather LittleWhite Household Helper of the year Awards
Grace Kitchens Judges (Angella Grandison-Reid and Mazie Miller, OD)
1989: Kingston 4-H Advisory Council and Leaders Association.
1993: HEART/Trust NTA (Excellence Service).
1997: Men Who Cook/Men’s Cuisine Group.
1996: Jamaica Police Academy Special Awars.
2018: JCDC 55th Anniversary Award for supporting the development of culinary arts.
Awards from the Culinary Federation of Jamaica.
2009: Observer Food Awards (Chairman’s Award on our 40th anniversary).
2011-2012: Observer Food Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.
2013 and 2015: Health Home and Garden Expo Most Bustling Booth Award.
2016: JMA Most Environmentally Friendly Booth Award.
Numerous Awards from schools across Jamaica for breakfast feeding and parenting programmes.
Numerous awards from community interest groups and church groups.