It was a delightful afternoon last Friday for 15 students of Iris Gelly Primary School at the Rainforest Seafoods headquarters. They made their way along the red carpet to the boardroom where they found their name cards and individual menus at a festively decorated table. Their hosts were senior executives at Rainforest Seafoods, helmed by CEO Brian Jardim. The four-course lunch created by Rainforest Seafoods Corporate Chef Everol Ebanks took the children on a formal culinary adventure — from soup to dessert — affording the team the opportunity to participate once again in the Jamaica Observer’s Applaud It! — a week-long initiative that provides a unique opportunity for Jamaica’s corporate pathfinders to meet the next generation exactly where they are and guide them through social and dining skills.

Jardim expressed his delight in welcoming the bright young minds to the boardroom. “ In our boardroom, we host a lot of important meetings and people. It is a lovely setting, but when it is dressed up like this, with all these bright young minds, it really gives it value. It’s probably the best use for it,” he noted.

Jardim further engaged the students with a recount of his recent visit to Belize, where the company had just opened a new fish plant, before sharing how the company started. “We started Rainforest Seafoods 20 years ago and are now in 12 or 13 islands in the Caribbean. We sell to Asia, Singapore, Taiwan and also to Europe, so a big part of what we do is export.” The CEO engaged the students exactly where they were and addressed them as he would have his peers. “We manufacture burgers for Burger King,” he continued, “fish for Tastee as well as Wendy’s so we’re a big part of what is called the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sector, which covers a wide variety of restaurants… so the next time you buy a burger you know where it came from.” Jardim also revealed his plans to take the brand to St Vincent. Marketing and PR execs Roger Lyn and Bethany Young gave a sneak peek into their daily duties and also revealed that religion and law, respectively, were their first career options. The students were charged by Lyn to protect their brands. “All of you are brands and you have to always remember to sell your brands in the right and best possible way.” General Manager Earnest Grant, who trained as a pharmacist at the College of Arts Science & Technology (CAST), now the University of Technology (UTech), spoke to his responsibilities as the company’s general manager and how it was important to be affable but to know when to draw the line.

The discussion was not one-sided as students also chimed in with their successes thus far and their hopes of taking that success to GSAT examinations. There were reality checks, too, as the students spoke of their single wish for Jamaica — for many it was for a violence-free society in which to grow.

The discussion took place over a four-course lunch which commenced with a hearty cream of fish and pumpkin soup, perfect for the heavy downpour outside. Salad followed, a fresh bed of crispy lettuce topped with cherry tomatoes, shaved carrots, smoked salmon bits, plantain, croutons and a French dressing.

The main, Asian glazed Caribbean snapper fillet and roasted rosemary lamb with cheesy sweet corn and potato mash, got rave reviews from the students. Naturally space was left for dessert: warm chocolate bread pudding with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream

Iris Gelly Vice Principal Sybil Vidal-Whyne expressed gratitude after lunch, remarking on the close relationship the school has developed with Rainforest Seafoods since the first Applaud It! event some three years ago, “On behalf of the Iris Gelly Primary School, we thank the Rainforest Seafoods [team] for their support.This was a unique experience for not only the kids, but us, the teachers. Each year since 2014, we have looked forward to the opportunity and we are very grateful for the experience and the exposure which it provides us and our children.”

Smiles and hugs brought yet another lunch to a close.

Thursday Life takes you around the boardroom table.