National Bakery’s annual trade show, A Jamaican Made Christmas, turned out 100 of Jamaica’s most promising young entrepreneurs. Among them were first-time exhibitors who demonstrated innovation in various fields.

The Jamaica Observer talked with some of them during the two-day event held at Jamaica Pegasus Hotel last month.

Nutsie’s Treats

Nutsie’s Treats has taken the business of selling traditional Jamaican confectioneries to new levels, with a line of products made with peanut, coconut, and ginger ingredients, but fused with some unusual and tasty flavours.

“We are trying to be innovative, so we started some new flavours. For example, we added chocolate to peanuts. What I did was to grate the cocoa on the peanuts and roast them together, and that becomes chocolate peanut drops,” said Nutsie’s owner Brian Walker.

“For the coconut grater cake, we added strawberry flavouring and we also have the mint and pineapple. We also have the rum and raisin peanut drops, which is a big hit.

“For the gizzadas, we changed it up and added pineapple, so we have pine and ginger coconut gizzada, and we also have an almond coconut gizzada,” Walker added.

He told the Sunday Observer that his business started in the streets as he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Now, Walker operates the business from home.

“What I originally did was street vending. I started out selling in Stony Hill about nine years ago and then persons began to love the product and always wanted more. So I decided to make a name for myself. And the people always call me “Nutsie” on the streets, so that’s how it became Nutsie’s Treats,” he explained.

“Presently, my wife and I do this business together from home and we employ two persons who go out on the street everyday to sell. What we are trying to do now is launch out into the convenience stores and the gift shops. But right now we do the business in the streets, but we also come to events like these. We do bite sizes for parties, corporate meetings, and so on,” Walker added.

Club Diamonds Co Men’s Clothing

Taking on the business of designing chic and unique men’s clothing are co-founders France-Roy Brown and Toussaint James, who started out as partygoers looking for outfits that could not be found in anyone else’s closet.

“How we began was we noticed that when we shopped here in Jamaica or even abroad, we would always end up seeing somebody else in the same things that we were wearing, and we like to be unique. We noticed that we could not find anything unique locally or internationally, so we decided to start making our own stuff,” James said.

They explained that their self-made designs quickly caught the eyes of their peers and even strangers, who gravitated toward the fresh look.

“It blossomed into a business and we realised that it was lucrative, so we decided to just build a company around it,” James said.

In terms of business structure, the young entrepreneurs explained that they employ tailors from Rockfort, which they said is their way of adding economic value to families in that community.

“We have a production team of about five persons located in Rockfort. We employ people from the community and they are able to support their families. It’s really a win-win for us in terms of having both a lucrative business which has a philanthropic element,” Brown said.

Satin Bonnets Ja

With simple sewing technique and some innovation, Kenesha Robb created a lucrative business in just six months.

“I make satin bonnets for females of all hair types to maintain the moisture, to keep the hair neat, and so forth,” Robb said, explaining that she started her business out of a personal need for a hair cap that would protect her hairdo at night.

“I wanted something to keep my hair, and so I actually taught myself to sew when I came up with the idea. We use 100 per cent satin, which is gentle on the hair, compared to cotton. And they are also reversible, so you can where it on both sides,” she said.

CEEJ Arts

CJ Carpio is among a small group of digital artists, operating his digital art company out of Portmore, St Catherine.

“The pieces are done on the computer, printed and then framed. Some are drawn from references, and others are hand-drawn. We also do reality augmented pieces and how it works is, we actually work through an app and the images are stored in the app database,” Carpio told the Sunday Observer.

“So upon purchase, we send you a link to the app and you download the app. After you install this app, it scans and recognises the image, and the image then comes alive.

“We also do stickers for diversity, so if you like the work but can’t afford it at the moment, you can buy a sticker. They are vinyl stickers, so they are very long-lasting,” Carpio said, explaining that the art form has been growing in Jamaica.

“Being that we are living in a computer age, I believe that we are shifting from the traditional painting on canvas. It’s definitely a growing field, and I see in the upcoming years there will be more persons doing digital art,” Carpio said.

CEEJ Arts was started just last October, and a year later has blossomed into a lucrative business, attracting regular clientele.

“From our inception, we have been growing quite well. I have gotten clients I never would have thought I would get, like for example Shensea and Romeich Entertainment. So we are definitely progressing,” said Carpio.