Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 3rd Edition

75 Our Competitive Advantage

TTFCC promoting their products at AgroAlimentaria in 2017

are currently working with El Dorado Rum to develop a rum and raisin flavored chocolate. Essentially, a robust economic model for cocoa farmers in theCaribbean involvesmore than planting and selling cocoa beans. It entails creating actual chocolate products and also moving into agro-tourismwhich is much more profitable as once consumers learn about fine flavor cocoa's provenance, many will want to visit the places where it is grown to have the ultimate culinary experience. This is already the case in the beverages sector with wine, whiskey and rum tours. Other Caribbean islands are already adopting new modes of showcasing homegrown chocolate products. Case in point is the Grenada Chocolate Festival which is now in its fifth year. Visitors from all over the globe visit Grenada for nine days each May and participate in a range of chocolate experiences all over the island including at the four major cocoa farms that are involved in the cocoa bean to bar model. The cocoa farms offer a range of agro- tourism experiences from general tours with cocoa tasting to providing self-catering accommodations. With this festival and agro-tourism chocolate experiences which can

be done year round, there is increased revenue for the cocoa farmers, as well as bars, restaurants, and hotels in Grenada. This is the economic model that Parasram thinks more cocoa farmers in the Caribbean need to work towards. Critical though is that cocoa farmers create cocoa products and experiences that are distinct and unique and don’t just replicate what is already on the market. With that in mind, Parasram hopes to develop the international market further so there will be a higher demand for visiting the Caribbean and partaking in cocoa experiences but admits it hasn’t been easy as he has had to overcome many challenges in trying to break into the European market. One of the first obstacles was finding and partnering with an internationally approved lab, so that sample tests are carried out to ensure that the fine flavor cocoa products continually meet global standards. Another challenge was ensuring that the packaging is of high quality to meet European standards. However, most Caribbean countries do not have the packaging expertise and design. The third major challenge was getting a handle