CEO/President of Caribbean Food Delights (CFD) and Vice-President of US Royal Caribbean Bakery, Business Leader and philanthropist Vincent HoSang, believes in treating his staff like family.

“You must treat your employees as family. Pay them a good salary [and] give them benefits,” HoSang said last Tuesday, as he fielded questions on operating a successful business from students and guests at the annual function at the Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM), Mona.

Born in Springfield, St James, to parents who had migrated from China to Jamaica in the early 1900s, HoSang, the eighth child among 10 siblings, is now lauded as the multi-millionaire founder of CFD, the leading Caribbean frozen food manufacturer of Jamaican-style patties in New York City, which rose from a small business in the Bronx, New York, to become the number one manufacturer of Jamaican beef, chicken and vegetable patties across the globe.

HoSang was in Jamaica for ‘An Evening with the Hon Dr Vincent HoSang’, which featured an interview format with him sharing his life story through excerpts of his book, Change of Fortune: How One Determined Immigrant Built His American Dream, with MSBM students and guests, including students from MSBM’s post-graduate course “Business in a Global Environment”.

HoSang’s success has kept him grounded to Jamaica, partnering with the University of the West Indies (UWI) through the MSBM to create an avenue — the Vincent HoSang UWI Venture Competition (UWIVC) — to support talented student entrepreneurs.

The venture competition was introduced in 2002 and aims to cultivate entrepreneurial ideas that can be turned into sustainable businesses. The winner is facilitated to compete with other young leaders at similar competitions held in the United States.

”Dr HoSang’s life and journey will inspire many young Jamaicans trying to open or start a business. This book will resonate with a growing number of entrepreneurs in Jamaica that need more guidance in making their dreams a reality,” said Douglas Lindo, advisor to the Vincent HoSang UWI Venture Competition.

Lecturer Ambassador Ralph Thomas included the session as part of his post-graduate coursework.

HoSang left Jamaica in the 1960s at age 27, in search of the coveted American dream, but found, initially, that attaining the feat was no easy task.

Raised in a humble dwelling with limited finances where he witnessed his parents’ struggle to survive and care for a large family from a grocery shop in rural Jamaica, he faced the death of two siblings, separation from his family, and life as a high-school dropout determined not to fall victim to his circumstances.

He eventually found the zeal to rise above his reality, start his own business and practise the very thing he preaches — good treatment of staff.

Today Dr HoSang, the proud owner and CEO of CFD, resides in New York, with his wife and business partner, Jeanie, who is president of their affiliate company, Royal Caribbean Bakery.