Turner Innovations pumped up after sorrel harvesting machine revamp

Oral and Allison Turner have learnt resilience, having to rebound from setbacks and pushing past the nos to getting to the all-important yes to keep Turner Innovations Limited going.

In a sit-down with The Gleaner, Allison shared that they had to revamp the sorrel de-seeding machine they developed to get back in the game, even while battling the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2009, they completed the first prototype with envisioned improvements from the hand method. Just when it seemed all was going well and they were set to start manufacturing, Allison said they realised that the machine wasn’t going to save farmers money and the end product’s lifespan was shortened.

That reality forced them to go back to the drawing board, starting back “from scratch” to invent a new machine.

“It was a completely different model than what we came up with, so it kinda slowed us down to get there,” Allison said.

A decade after the first, the new prototype was ready in 2019 and gives sorrel farmers an 86 per cent reduction in costs.

It is designed to cut two sorrel buds per second and strips 100 of the calyces off in one piece, separating them from the seed pod. The machine can process five times faster than the manual process.

Now ready to seek investors to manufacture the machine for the market, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, causing many potential backers to retreat from making new investments, preferring to watch the economy before taking on new initiatives.

Nevertheless, the Turners were still fired up to keep pushing.

“So, we went back to our friends at Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and said, ‘We’re not stopping. We’re ready now again and we need support’,” Allison shared.

They were successful in getting a grant under the DBJ’s Mentorship for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme.

“It also helped us to get our plan together and we did the course for one year, we got ourselves a renewed, stronger plan,” she told The Gleaner.

Armed with proof of the new concept, the Turners went back to their investors in 2021 and Angels Investment happened to be launching its business incubator course called RevUP Caribbean, designed for equity-seeking companies.

“The timing was perfect,” she said of the course. “We were given access to a well-collaborated team of professionals who walked us through their individual fields of expertise and helped us navigate growth potential for our business.”

At the end of the course, they were given an opportunity to make a pitch to get funds to accelerate the business.

“Because we were already invested with First Angels, we were in the fortunate position to just do the course and go back in with our investors. We did that and we got our funding,” she said.

The Turners are now in the final stage of the process, as the machines have gone off to the United States to be upgraded. The designs are also getting some “tidying up in a professional manner using the industry standard materials”.

Market testing with the pricing has produced good results.

“We have a lot of persons lined up waiting for the machines. We have now secured 10 buyers for the first set of machines, so it is exciting,” said Allison.

After being fine-tuned, the machines will leave Texas for manufacturers abroad, who will ship directly to customers.

COVID-19 brought a lot of positives, said Allison, as it allowed everyone to stop, slow down, rethink, and refocus.

“I always believe there is an avenue for growth, regardless of what the situation really is. Sometimes when you are backed into a corner, that’s when you actually perform at your best. So, that’s what happened to us and it made us come back better and stronger,” she said.

cecelia.livingston@gleanerjm.com