MONTEGO BAY, St James – ‘Good friends are better than pocket money’ is a quote often used by Jamaicans after they have seen or benefited personally from the assistance of a kind friend.

Kerriann Smith is one such individual who can truly attest to that statement.

Recently, Smith, a married mother with two children, purchased a concessionaire at the MoBay Jerk Festival in August with hopes of “just earning extra money” from selling jerk chicken and other products. But a conversation with a friend changed all that.

“I had used up all the available funds I had to purchase the stall, so I didn’t have any money left to buy the products I wanted. So I was telling a friend of mine that I’m going to have to ask for a refund from the organisers of the event because I couldn’t raise the remaining funds,” Smith told the Jamaica Observer West.

But the friend convinced her not to give up as her talent needed to be exposed. He ended up lending her $100,000.

Smith, who grew up in the rural community of Dumfries in St James, has been cooking since age 12. At that age she was preparing meals for her family of five sisters and six brothers, plus her parents.

She credits her inspiration to a Muschette High School trip to Half Moon Hotel in Rose Hall where she observed chefs preparing meals. She later pursed courses at Western Hospitality Institute in Montego Bay, American Hospitality Academy in Orlando, Florida, and landed an internship at Embassy Suites Hotel, also in Florida.

She told the Observer West that while she was at the MoBay Jerk Festival, she decided to enter the Best Dressed Chicken-sponsored competition for the best jerk chicken, which she later won.

Since then everything has changed, said Smith, who is the branch manager for Rituals Coffee House in Montego Bay.

“I was able to repay the loan and, most of all, I’m excited that I won the competition because I couldn’t let my friend down. My jerk process had a

two-week preparation time and it was served with my BBQ Jerk, Pineapple Jerk, or Coconut Rum Jerk sauces.

She said that since then she has made contact with the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office in an effort to patent her sauces, adding that she is looking forward to the day when her products are bottled and sold in supermarkets.

She has already been contacted by companies to do catering jobs. “A company from overseas wants me to develop my sauces so they can come in December to see what kind of deal can be arranged in terms of distribution and possibly export, and I’m looking for persons to partner with to grow the business,” she said.