WALKERSWOOD Caribbean Foods on Sunday launched a ‘jerk country tour’, an innovate tourism product that showcases the company’s authentic jerk products. Visitors and locals alike will benefit from a tour of the factory, and eventually that of the pepper farms.

Already the company has invested heavily in the Walkerswood community through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) pepper farm project. Currently all 12 farmers involved in the programme cultivate more than 50 acres of land which has been leased by Walkerswood and allotted to them.

Matthew McLarty, international sales manager at Walkerswood Caribbean Foods, told the Observer that persons who sign up for the tour of the factory, will soon be able to tour the farms as well to see exactly how pepper and other vegetable crops are grown.

“We want to have the farmers and family members conducting the tour so they can interact with these visitors,” he said.

According to McLarty, the tours will cater to both locals and visitors alike with groups as small as two persons and as large as 30. In addition, come September the experience will be enhanced by cooking classes for persons interested in learning to prepare Jamaican cuisine.

McLarty said that while the tours are currently marketed through cruise lines and tour operators, they have also received school children who visit the property for educational field trips. He added that the packages can be tailor-made to fit the group’s preference.

“We encourage Jamaicans to come here and as a matter of fact we do have specialised rates for them,” he said.

According to McLarty, Walkerswood is renowned worldwide as the brand to be found in almost all major supermarkets in the United Kingdom and the United States.

He attributes the rapid growth of the company to the uniqueness of its 25 products, which include seasonings, jams and jellies, among others.

“People try to grow scotch bonnet pepper elsewhere but it just doesn’t come out the same,” he added.

For now the company exports to Germany, Switzerland, Barbados, Trinidad, the United Kingdom and the United States, which has the biggest market.

In the meantime, Johnny McFarlane, director of group development for Walkerswood, said the idea of a farm tour was important as some overseas visitors who are farmers would be able to trade expertise.

The farmers in the co-op, McFarlane said, are guaranteed markets for the produce they grow as they are able to supply only a portion of the 2.5 million pounds of pepper and two million pounds of escallion that the factory uses on a yearly basis.

For the other crops grown such as pak choi and pumpkin, these are sold to the factory’s canteen.

“So everything that they grow we buy,” he added.

He pointed out that through the co-op, the farmers are also able to provide employment for many other residents in the community, especially during harvesting.

As for praedial larceny, he said it was not an issue for them at Walkerswood as the farmers look out for each other’s interest.

Meanwhile, the company will also soon be utilising a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) grant to use compost material such as ackee pods, escallion and rotten peppers from the factory to provide fertilizers in the fields.

And as the company continues to give back to the community there are plans for building a tennis court on a vacant plot of land, where a member of staff will offer lessons to the community’s children.

“Within the next six months we hope to be able to source the funding so we can start levelling off the surface,” said McFarlane.