CE 2025 Annual Results Report web

FROM POTENTIAL TO PERFORMANCE:

DRIVING EXPORTS THROUGH TARGETED PROGRAMMES

Participating Companies and Outcomes (from top left to bottom right ) 1. Frying Pan Productions (Dominica) – Brand: Draw Teas Specialising in handcrafted herbal tea blends using locally sourced ginger and turmeric, the company showcased its wellness-focused product line to buyers seeking functional and clean-label beverages. Participation resulted in new buyer leads and feedback on packaging and flavour profiling for export markets. 2. Café 509 (Haiti) – Brand: Café 509 Producer of premium Haitian Blue Mountain Coffee, Café 509 received strong buyer interest from specialty coffee importers and retailers. The company reported high-quality commercial discussions and concrete follow-up opportunities, exceeding initial expectations for market response 3. Choko Lakay (Haiti) – Brand: Choko Lakay Focused on value-added cacao products including cocoa powder, butter, and cocoa tea, Choko Lakay advanced conversations with buyers interested in traceable, sustainably sourced cacao ingredients and private-label opportunities, supporting next steps toward export scale-up. 4. Handmade by Jeanette (Trinidad & Tobago) – Brand: Handmade by Jeanette Showcasing sauces, pepper sauces, condiments, and health foods rooted in Caribbean culinary traditions, the brand secured distributor interest and product feedback to refine export pricing and packaging for new markets. The engagement also reinforced a strategic reality: while Agroalimentaria opens doors to extra-regional markets, many of the most immediate opportunities for CARIFORUM producers exist within the Caribbean itself. Differences in production strengths, consumer preferences, and tourism-driven demand across Member States create natural complementarities that remain underutilised. Caribbean Export is therefore using regional platforms not only to promote exports beyond the region, but also to stimulate intra-regional trade and business linkages reducing logistics constraints, shortening market-entry timelines, and building commercially viable stepping stones that position firms for wider international expansion. In this context, Agroalimentaria functioned as both a gateway to diversification and a practical mechanism for connecting Caribbean producers with Caribbean buyers, distributors, and hospitality actors—reinforcing the region as an accessible, high-potential market for growth. authenticity of Caribbean products while giving participating firms a stronger collective presence. Across the four-day event, companies engaged in over 50 structured B2B meetings with international buyers and distributors, alongside technical conferences and curated gastronomy activities that helped demonstrate product versatility, differentiation, and market relevance.

Results and Early Outcomes • Enhanced market exposure: All companies increased visibility through a shared regional brand platform and direct engagement with qualified buyers. • Commercial connections advanced: Over 50 B2B meetings generated concrete leads, product requests, and follow-up actions with distributors and retailers. • Improved buyer readiness: Companies gained practical insights on pricing, packaging, certification, and route-to-market strategies for export growth. Clear next steps identified: Post-event actions include product refinement, digital marketing upgrades, distributor engagement, and sample submissions.

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