Sheldon Daley, CEO of First Straw Limited, a craft company which produces handwoven home décor and accessories from its location in Cottage District, a small community in the Leamington Division, Westmoreland, knows that with Christmas approaching, home decor items are most in demand. He is therefore preparing to satisfy his clients.

The 37-year-old has been weaving and designing as long as he can remember. “I learned from my mother…it’s an art form that has been in my family for years,” Daley told the Jamaica Observer.

He has no other business, using weaving to support his family for at least 25 years. Now employs four others who also find weaving a sustainable livelihood. Currently, First Straw has four workers that work full time and another three who are in training.

First Straw, in addition to home decor and accessories, specialises in hand bags, laundry baskets, mats, fruit bowls and bassinets, “ just to name a few,” as Daley outlines. The primary materials used are thatch palm and coconut palm. The leaves of these palms are torn at defined lengths and widths to achieve neat weaving patterns and also these leaves are coloured to meet customer requirements, the artist explains.

First Straw products are durable and are among the highest quality of handmade craft products he asserts. “Most products are done to order, so I’ll try to find out what type of product and design a customer wants. Each product requires a different weaving pattern, so I’ll walk through customers on the order so they have a general understanding if their design can be created or something similar to it can be done.”

Daley outlines that the demand for the products First Straw supplies, depends a lot on the season. He said, “Home decor is in top demand close to and during Christmas. As stated it is home decor so the product is ordered to beautify homes and businesses. Hand bags are ordered all year round.”

The entrepreneur explains that his ultimate dream has always been to “use this venture to create a brighter path for my family financially by creating a financial framework to assist two of my younger siblings who have great potential to pursue tertiary studies at universities locally or overseas.”

“ In addition, I want to build a solid foundation for my son and try to be someone who my community members will emulate as a young man with a strong sense of determination and sense of purpose.” Daley has plans to relocate to Falmouth in the Artisan Village on the pier in Falmouth because that would be a more central location for his growing business.

He said his vision is for First Straw to be a brand to be reckoned with in craft work and tourism, in particular. He says, “Even though my product designs are unique, there are other weavers which use the same materials as First Straw but to the best of my knowledge First Straw is the only hand-weaving registered company in Jamaica.”

He admits, “Demand for this type of art has been very flat in Jamaica for a while so the market is low and sometimes seems risky to invest capital in.” However, over time assistance has come through a training programme funded by Sandals Foundation and Jamaica Business Fund. This, he said, opened the door for a partnership with the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).

He mentions Richard Miller, Michael Young and Tobi Phillips who he said have assisted with sales in hotels and “brought …a breath of life for a dying craft through teaching me ways to promote my business by helping me with new ways of creating my products and giving me exposure to new buyers.”

Regarding the experience of the pandemic period, he outlined, “The market I supplied was mostly dependent on the tourism sector so with the lockdown of the country’s borders, overseas sales slowed.”

Daley had started producing for Sandals hotel stores across the Caribbean. However, as such sales slowed, there was a pick up in local demand, with new distribution opportunities provided by Beenybud Distribution Company, which specialises in craft products.

Daley says he has not kept track of his investment, but says he believes the business is profitable. He notes that many weavers are now in their 60s and 80s and says he believes First Straw is playing a role in training younger weavers. He said that for such, Sandals is providing improved opportunities for distribution in its overseas gifts shop.