OCHO RIOS, St Ann – Sandals Resort International (SRI) on Saturday paid tribute to the scores of farmers and suppliers who have been supplying the hotel chain over the years with some of the best crops grown locally, at a grand dinner at the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios hotel in this resort town.

“We believe that tourism is the backbone of Jamaica’s development and agriculture has always been a big deal with us; it’s a partnership and we will continue that partnership,” said Sandals Resorts International managing director Merrick Fray, as he spoke about the relationship between Sandals and the farmers.

The importance of the partnership was underscored by Sandals Grande Ocho Rios general manager, Michael Darby, who told the Observer that over the past two years (since the twinning of Sandals Ocho Rios and Beaches Grande Sport to form Sandals Grande Ocho Rios) the resort has accommodated and served 96,000 guests.

“They have all been fed by produce that comes from these farmers, so we couldn’t do it without them, they are the ones we depend on everyday,” Darby told the Observer.

The farmers, he said, supply the hotel with around 90 per cent of the fresh produce they use on a daily basis.

At the same time, Bryan Roper, director of operations and SRI, said the range of crops supplied by the farmers was enormous, saying that these include bananas, pawpaws, melons, pineapples, cantaloupes, otaheiti apples, naseberries, mangoes, oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, star apples, June plums, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, yams, dasheens and other items.

“All of the produce that you would see in the market we are keen to buy in relatively large quantities,” Roper said.

“Over the years we buy so much produce from our hard-working farmers and we have a desire to buy the freshest and best produce so we work very closely with our farmers, letting them know our needs, the quality that we need and our farmers have been excellent in supplying us with our needs,” Roper said.

He added: “We thought tonight (Saturday’s dinner) would be a great opportunity to bring them, show them our property and say thanks to them for getting out of their beds at four in the morning to ensure that we have the freshest produce, good quality produce to server the visitors to our island.”

Sandals have over the years developed a relationship with the farmers which sees the resort chain supplying the farmers with seeds, who then grow the crops and sell back to the hotel chain.

Farmers came from all regions of the island to be feted and to share the evening with the Sandals family and although several could not make it, there were representatives from areas such as St Elizabeth, Clarendon, St Mary and St Ann.

Among the many farmers was Tedroy Burton, also known for his exploits on the race track, who has been supplying Sandals Ocho Rios from its inception in 1989.

Several spot prizes of accommodation at Sandals hotels were given out during the evening’s event.