SRC helping J’cans to bring ideas to market

Juggling family life and the demands of university was not easy for 45-year-old Latoya Mills. Before long, she realised that, to manage both, she needed a greater level of efficiency in at least one area.

So she then decided to pre-prep her meats by seasoning them. After experiencing how much easier this made her busy life, the entrepreneurial systems administrator decided to make a business out of it and Prep2Pot was founded.

But the Kingston native was savvy enough to know that she needed help to create a product she could put on the market, so she sought the assistance of the Scientific Research Council (SRC).

An agency of the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, the SRC’s mandate includes promoting scientific and technological endeavours by facilitating training and the implementation of projects, especially in the agro-industrial sector.

“I needed consistency within the product, so I came to the SRC so I could get a formula. So, whenever persons purchased my product, you’ll get the same taste each time the product is made,” Mills told The Gleaner.

She explained that the business was registered in May of last year and she does her processing at facilities provided at the SRC.

Currently, Prep2Pot offers pre-cooked chicken meatballs and pre-seasoned stew and jerk chicken that all come with a signature gravy pack.

So far, her product is available at Things Jamaican, a distribution service located in Kingston; the Norman Manley International Airport; Devon House; the Gregory Park location of Everybody’s Wholesale; and it has been vendor added and is awaiting further authorisation from popular retailer MegaMart.

“I’ve been getting excellent feedback, especially when we have the expos and the pop-up shops, but we need more exposure in the supermarket,” she said.

Mills was one of 20 small entrepreneurs showcasing their products at an exhibition hosted by the SRC on Thursday.

The SRC’s Marketing and Corporate Communications Manager Carolyn Rose Miller explained that the second staging of the event was aimed at providing visibility, market acceptance, and highlighting the role of the SRC in driving economic activity.

“The SRC brings a number of local economic initiatives together. These are persons who have directly benefited from the service of the SRC. So, every exhibitor here today has utilised our services – product development, product standardisation, product manufacturing, testing services mainly,” she told The Gleaner.

BENEFIT FROM EXPERTISE

Miller noted that facility access is provided to these small entrepreneurs at a minimal cost of approximately $2,000 per hour. Additionally, they benefit from the expertise of technocrats within the SRC.

“It starts with a conversation and we go through a process of scheduling because, you’d imagine, it’s an incubator, not a large manufacturing space, but it gives persons an opportunity to manufacture, not having to worry about where to find equipment, no need to find the resources to set up a factory because the space is here. So we provide support in beverage manufacturing, sauces, [and] we do bottling of honey, flavoured water,” she said.

After working on her mango chutney in her kitchen for months, Majorie Changoo, owner of Jezreel Farms, was happy to benefit from the facilities and expertise the SRC provided to take her product to the next level.

The consultant home renovator outlined that she wanted her product to have as natural a flavour as possible while also remaining affordable.

“Because I was in my kitchen, I used natural lemon. For me to buy natural lemon to put in my production would be too costly for anybody to buy the product, so things like that, they (SRC) help me to scale down on that and substitute that for something else,” Changoo told The Gleaner.

The mango chutney was developed out of a love her family has for the tropical fruit, and a desire to capture its natural sweetness to share with the world.

It is an idea she has been working on since April last year and the SRC was integral in helping her to scale. Her first major production was done in October and, although the product is not yet on shelves, Changoo said she is already thinking of exporting.

“I want to further the mango chutney and I want to do a mild version of it and actually export it,” she said.

Meanwhile, SRC Executive Director Dr Charah Watson told The Gleaner that, through its Analytical Services Department, the SRC gives clients the opportunity to assess products to ensure readiness for not just local but international markets as well.

“The SRC brings ideas to life and products to market to help have an input in terms of driving economic activity through their own ideas,” she said. “Through fulfilling the mandate of translating Jamaica’s resources into tangible products or services that will be able to help drive development, we deliver several programmes, projects, [and offer many] services.”

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com