Promoting local businesses through Marketplace UncappeD

The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) held its fourth annual Marketplace Uncapped exhibition on Sunday at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, East Bank Demerara.

The agro-processing event saw participation from over 75 businesses. The expo was aimed at providing businesses with the opportunity to toss out their new or already launched products, and also to introduce any new sector or technologies they may have.
Speaking with Guyana Times, a few of the local manufacturers vocalised that the expo is a great initiative since it is a networking ground for them to interact with the public. For them, it also generates new customers, which serves as a way to foster the growth of their businesses.

Sandra Craig of SS Natural Fruit Flavors uses various local fruits to make tasty barbeque sauces. Some of those fruits include passion fruit, soursop, tamarind, golden apple, and pineapple. For her, uncapped is a very good initiative since it is going to promote her business in a significant way.
“This is my fourth year, and it is benefiting me a great way. Uncapped has helped me to be able to showcase my business to the people [of] Guyana, not only the people of Guyana but international. It’s like when people see the product the come asking for me. It has given me a lot of promotion”, she said.

Badass Gobin from Gobin’s Farming Kitchen told <<<Guyana Times>>> that his business was established since 2012 after his farm had experienced pineapple wastage. He said that after the wastage, they would have persevered with the fruit and marketed them. However, he said this is their second time at Uncapped, while noting that it has been a great experience thus far.
“A lot of persons visited us and said they remembered us and they have visited our shops and purchased the products. I think it has been a good opportunity to showcase our product to a wide range of persons”, he explained.
Ronella Prince, a representative of Ventriz Flavoured Plantain Chips, said that “Uncapped is helping us to take our business beyond Linden because right now it is in Linden… because of the promotion, we will get to take it to Georgetown, the West Bank, all over Guyana”.
For some of the attendees, uncapped is an opportunity for them to discover products they never knew existed in Guyana.
“I seriously didn’t know some of these things exist in Guyana. I have been spending money on products overseas and didn’t know that they are right here in my country. It is just a matter of discovering these things. I am happy that uncapped is here so that Guyanese will know”, Lisa Ramdatt stated.
Meanwhile, the Owner of Jah Works Natures Mystic, a craft business, said that since we are close to first oil, people will visit the country, and it is time that we showcase what Guyana has to offer.
“We are getting oil and gas so you know we have to start looking at what we have because people are coming and liking what we have here, we have to know what we [Guyana] have,” she said.
Nevertheless, the activity was recently held at the` Sophia Exhibition Centre and the Stadium, providing a platform for local stakeholders to showcase their products to the Guyanese community.
Neatly labelled sauces, packaged dried goods along with craft items were all available at the event.
Guyanese are encouraged to try the local products which are of good quality and made from ingredients that are produced right in Guyana.