Rayneau Industries, a St. Vincent and the Grenadines-based agriculture marketing and trading company, is attempting to fill the hole left by the closing of Winfresh.
The company continues to ship coconuts to the US Virgin Islands on a regular basis, giving growers with another secure outlet. The emphasis is on purchasing coconuts in the Orange Hill area. However, as exports expand, purchasing will spread across the country.
At Langley Park, coconuts are collected and prepped, inspected, and then packed in a 20-foot refrigerated container ready for export.
Mr. Rayneau Gajadar, the company’s founder, envisions first establishing a local and intra-OECS food supply network. The company will focus on purchasing, selling, and exporting rather than manufacturing goods.
“When I came to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, I was impressed by the high level of agriculture production,” Mr. Gajadar said. But I saw there was room for a major marketer to improve on the current marketing. I’ll start with St. Vincent and the Grenadines and then expand to other islands. Volumes will be required for this to work, and it will rely largely, first and foremost, on all participants’ belief that we can do the work.”
The company is nearing the end of its first year of food export operations and has established a network of hundreds of farmers.
Saboto Caesar, Minister of Agriculture of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, stressed that “the role of our agro-exporters is central to the growth of our agriculture sector.” I am encouraged to see young traders from various communities in SVG, both rural and urban, investigating agricultural export potential. Keshern Cupid just launched an operation in Lauders, joining the ranks of food traffickers that move food on a weekly basis. In 2024, the government will provide additional assistance to traffickers.”
Rayneau Industries is in the process of hiring senior management and registering farmers in an OECS supply chain.
The company stated that it will not export food to Trinidad and Tobago because the market is already well served by local traffickers.
