Participants at the last round of PAN 2024 workshops have given the programme their stamp of approval.

Held on the grounds of the Montego Bay Community College this was the second of two workshops this year.

The annual PAN competition, hosted by CB Foods, is back with a slightly different twist. This year the organisers have introduced empowering workshops designed to provide comprehensive training and support to pan vendors. These workshops aim to help vendors grow their businesses, enhance their culinary skills and customer service, as well as elevate the overall standard of pan chicken in Jamaica.

“I found the practical session very interesting. I have been doing pan chicken around 21 years and today I learnt how to do quite a few things differently. I learnt how to make sauce and how to season the chicken on a different level. I really appreciate the session,” Andrew Reid, who hails from the community of Cave Valley in St Ann.

Shavae Reid from Savannah-la-Mar, who entered PAN 2024 as an assistant to her father Raymond Reid, found the theory session particularly engaging.

“I enjoyed the money management session because, for me, it was very educational. I didn’t have much knowledge about banking and the different options that Jamaica National has for pan vendors, which can be beneficial to your business. The presentation by JN Money taught me a lot about finances and managing your business,” Reid explained.

The workshops are also used as the qualifying rounds for the grand finals

Following the theory exam and practical cook-off presentations, two winners (first and second place) from the parishes of Hanover, Trelawny, St Ann, St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, and St James were announced. They will join two wild cards and the first and second place winners from Kingston and St Andrew, St Catherine, Portland, St Mary, Clarendon, Manchester, St Thomas, and Portmore at the grand finals, which will take place on Sunday, August 25, at Independence Park in Black River, St Elizabeth.

The first and second-place winners from each parish received cash prizes of $50,000 and $30,000, respectively, and other prizes.

Pan chicken vendor Marlon Schloss (second left), the first place winner for the parish of Trelawny, receives the symbolic cheque from Lisanne Bewry (right), assistant trade marketing manager, CB Foods. Sharing in the occasion are Jamaica National’s marketing specialist Sasha Kaye McCalla (left) and Schloss’s assistant Raheim Haughton.

Raymond Reid of Westmoreland is ecstatic as he was declared first place winner for Westmoreland. Sharing in the occasion is his daughter Shavae Reid (left) and Samantha Fisher, assistant brand manager, CB Foods.