Bambusa: Beautiful, handcrafted and functional gifts
Published:Thursday | July 21, 2022 | 12:07 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
Despite being birthed on the soil of the Cayman Islands, the rich Jamaican blood and enthusiastic, innovative spirit runs deep in the veins of Tricia Williamson, chief executive officer of Bambusa.
Williamson, who came to live in Jamaica at the age of five, has adopted the country as her own and proudly displays her Jamaicanness whenever she discusses the background of her company with customers.
Bambusa has not only served the Jamaican populace but has delivered products to countries like Canada, the United States, and Japan, among others.
The idea of establishing the company Bambusa, which was incorporated in 2018, was inspired by a conversation Williamson had with her late grandfather.
“Before he died, one of the last talks we had a few years back was just [me] asking him, with everything that was going on in the market with plastics ... ‘Dada, what you guys used before unu have plastic straw’, and he just smiled and said bamboo,” she explained.
Bambusa primarily sold bamboo straws as an alternative to the paper straws, and this after the Jamaican Government instituted a ban on the import and manufacture of plastic drinking straws.
“As an entrepreneur coming into business, you have to know that timing is everything and we came in at that right time,” she added.
However, when the coronavirus pandemic hit Jamaica in March 2020, the company was forced to change its focus from its traditional bamboo straws and team up with inventive and creative individuals to diversify its product offerings. This was done to align the company’s collections with its mission to be a sustainably-focused gifting business that produces handcrafted, laser engraved, high-quality corporate gifts and souvenir items.
OVER 30 PRODUCTS
As a digital store, Bambusa now offers more than 30 products on its website, including some of its best-selling items made of cedar wood, such as personalised journals, charcuterie and cutting boards, and picnic baskets with Jamaican proverbs and sayings like ‘One one cocoa full basket’.
Other items include, but are not limited to: leather messenger bags, coasters, wooden tea boxes and coconut bowls.
All items are made in Jamaica as the company continues to partner with local artisans located islandwide who contribute to the make-up of 90 per cent of the products manufactured.
Williamson, who was one of 180 producers exhibiting on day one of the eighth instalment of the ‘Christmas in July’ trade show held on Tuesday at The Jamaica Pegasus, said she has started making Jamaica 60-themed products because it was a major milestone for Jamaica.
She stressed how important it was for customers worldwide, looking to purchase high-quality Jamaican gifts in honour of the nation’s 60th anniversary of independence, to be able to get authentically made products.
“Our gifts at their core, they’re beautiful, handcrafted and functional and we try to tie that with all our gifts so it has some use and is not just a souvenir that you might throw away, but something you can keep and use for life,” she said.
Being Jamaican means everything to Williamson, who noted that it is a part of her “core”.
“I bat for Jamaica all the time because I believe in our brand, I believe that we are the best, and when I see the work that comes out, not just from my team ... it is top quality,” she said.
Williamson urges others to invest in ‘home’ and the Jamaican people as she, too, vows to continue finding new and innovative ways to serve the Jamaican people both local and abroad, while continuing to contribute to brand Jamaica.
“It’s rough as an entrepreneur, as a business, but I think when you tap into that Jamaican brand which is such a huge global brand, you can leverage that and really push your business further and push the country further,” said Williamson.