Jean Lowrie-Chin

When our friend Harry visits Jamaica, he picks up as many litres of Tru-Juice as his brother's refrigerator can hold. "See how it makes me look youn and nice!" he quips. When my niece is going back home to the USA, she has to take an entire case of Lasco chocolate drink. My overseas associates are bowled over by our Appleton VX Rum and Blue Mountain Coffee (Greenwich Farm Estate's is amazing).

"Buy Jamaican, brand we love" is a perfect slogan for the coming JMA-JEA trade show. Brand Jamaica is near magical - it is as if our Creator infused our food, our landscape and our culture with the most intense flavours and colours. The outrageous Ali G (Sacha Cohen) whose movie is on HBO, tries his best to sound Jamaican and liberally dresses his sets in black, green and gold. The reggae beat peps up Hollywood's leading comedies, Sean Paul's Temperature sells Verizon, and Busha Browne products are seasoning dishes on Food TV.

Obviously, the world appreciates Jamaica, probably more than many of us do. I believe it all goes back to lack of self-esteem. We shouldn't be surprised that this is happening in the land of Marcus Garvey, the man who kept telling us how powerful we could be. Garvey is in fact far more deeply studied abroad than in his own homeland.

We are unfortunately "too cool". Shaggy, Sean Paul and Junior Gong may have number one hits and Grammys but they have to sweat to get a "forward" from a Jamaican crowd. Overseas consultants tend to command a higher salary than locals. Our youngsters will pay double the money to get half the nutrients in junk food, while allowing mangoes to rot on the ground.

Did you know that the food our grandparents used to eat is what is being endorsed by the South Beach Diet? Salt t'ing (protein), callaloo (vegetables), hard food (complex carbohydrates like yam, sweet potato). No wonder many grannies enjoy better health than their offspring.

Put fantastic ingredients and legendary Jamaican intelligence together and you get premium products on par with first-world offerings. We have first-class food products, beautiful furniture, stylish clothes and accessories. Our Bureau of Standards enforces stringent international guidelines, so we have easy entry into overseas markets.

When my homesick nephew in Wyoming complained to my sister in DC that he was missing his bun and cheese, she headed to the nearest Publix supermarket where she bought HTB bun and Tastee "tin" cheese. Lots of bun and cheese was flying through the air via Fedex last week!

Another product that I feel very close to is Ting, the Jamaican grapefruit soft drink which I helped to launch more years ago than I care to remember. The name was inspired by the Merrymen's She promise to give me somet'ing, t'ing, t'ing! Our grapefruit has a superior taste, and soon the product was winning prizes all over Europe. It is said that D&G's manoeuvre and eventual purchase of Guinness Jamaica was to get their hot little hands on the hottest new soft drink in the world.

With the arrival of technology, Jamaica's manufacturing sector went through a renaissance, with factories retooling to produce better products in a faster time. It's fascinating to watch the huge rotating baking sheets at National covered with hundreds of cookies crisping up nicely just at the right time. At the end of the line, only women pick up the fragile packs to stack them in the boxes. "All over the world, it's the same," explained Butch Hendrickson, "women have a gentle touch, so there is less breakage."

Red Stripe has an ever-increasing international following, and D&G softdrinks are also in the supermarkets, especially their matchless kola champagne. JF Mills chocolate cake mix, made with real Jamaican cocoa, stands up well against the pricier mixes. My friend Audrey Wilson produces the purest honey from the apiary in her backyard, which she supplies to the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

But manufacturing is no walk in the park. It was Madame Rose Leon (I will never tire to sing her name) who first put the "Made in Jamaica" label on her beauty products in the 1940s. JMA President Doreen Frankson continues this fine tradition. Her state-of-the art Edgechem facility is testimony to the combination of resilience and excellence required to succeed in this demanding environment.

"No more are local markets secure as the discerning consumers now have more choices and opportunities to spend their dollars," says the Harvard-educated Frankson. "It is because of this realisation that the Buy Jamaican campaign is not only about engendering support for the local producers, but also assisting producers to adopt new technologies and comply with the international standards within their particular industry. This is the reality of the new world economy and as manufacturers we must adapt in order to survive."

A look at the mission statement of the JMA shows that they take very seriously their responsibility: "The manufacturer is not only a creator of goods, but also of the services needed for the distribution and sale of such goods. These functions impose an obligation beyond those of ordinary commerce.
They impose important social responsibilities and a patriotic duty to which the manufacturer should dedicate himself. The manufacturer therefore, needs to be zealous in maintaining and improving the standards of his product and share with his fellow manufacturer a common responsibility for integrity and honour."

Even as we sink our teeth into a warm gizzada or slip into a comfy Crimson Dawn shirt, we should know that supporting local industry will contribute to social stability: "Jamaica needs sustainable economic activity that will create jobs, increase the GDP, reduce the demand for foreign currency and eliminate the fiscal deficit," says a JMA statement. "One solution is to support local industries by purchasing locally produced goods. This means job creation for young Jamaican men and women and more disposable income for those employed."

Congrats to NCB for not only sponsoring the Buy Jamaican campaign, but also choosing a local manufacturer to supply uniforms. Talk about win-win - the garment industry and their staff wardrobe both enjoyed a booster.

Hopefully our factories are gearing to give us real Jamaican souvenirs for next year's Cricket World Cup - the JMA should make this a special focus so we can stop embarrassing ourselves by selling cheesy souvenirs stamped "Jamaica", made anywhere else but here.

lowriechin@netscape.net

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