Cassava chips is now on the market and Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton feels vindicated.

“They call me the cassava man,” he said. “But now, not only can you get cassava from the field, but you can get it in two flavours, original and barbecue. Today I feel vindicated,” he declared Wednesday at the launch of St Mary’s cassava chips – a new product by JP Tropical Foods which is a division of Jamaica Producers.

Tufton, in his budget presentation earlier this year, stirred controversy and drew ridicule when he advocated widescale planting of cassava as a substitute for imported starches.

Wednesday, again championing the cause for local food security, Tufton urged Jamaicans to become less dependent on imported produce in the face of the recent global food crisis.

The minister argued that although commodity prices are currently on the decline, recent price hikes in wheat and corn starkly outlined the fragility of our food supply.

“We have recognised the vulnerability of our market over the last 12 months,” Tufton said at the product launch held at the St Mary chips factory in Annotto Bay.

“We now have to take stock of what we want as it relates to food security,” he added.

Jamaica Producers has sold banana chips under the St Mary brand for over nine years and according to commercial director Rolf Simmonds, the company now has over 550 acres of bananas and cassava, employing 450 workers.

“Our snack business has realised 17 per cent compounded annual growth in the last five years and we expect this trend to continue,” Simmonds said at the launch, adding that the company projects 10,000 tonnes of produce next year, a large portion to be converted into snacks.

Simmonds told the Observer that the St Mary factory is able to produce one million bags of chips per week and is now actively pursuing export possibilities for the new cassava product.

“We are now looking at the Caribbean and Latin markets in the US,” he said. ‘There are not many manufacturers in that market.”

In lauding Jamaica Producers’ efforts, Tufton said that other entrepreneurs should emulate the company and become involved in value-added agriculture.

“They are role models and should be a catalyst for the growth of the sector,” Tufton remarked.

He added that government was working to strengthen the apparatus at the Jamaica Customs Department in order to better protect local manufacturers.

“No single briefcase operator should have the capacity to undermine local production,” Tufton said.