Joel Harris is a woman’s man

HE is creative, passionate, caring and positive, and his supportive nature has seen him channelling his energies towards helping single mothers and at-risk youth.

Joel Harris, 27, CEO of Shavuot Farms, tells All Woman that from an early age he had a caring spirit, which he has nurtured into adulthood and incorporates in his daily lifestyle.

At the age of five, Harris, who holds a bachelor of science degree in management studies with specialisation in marketing from UWI, said he spent a lot of time in the sickle cell unit with his mother who is a nurse, and from watching her care for the sicklers, he was emboldened to be compassionate to others.

“Being tenacious, I always wanted to help dress wounds, or push them out in the wheelchairs. I was also always keen to find out the science behind why they were sick and what was the cure.”

He said his father is a microbiologist, and so he would use that medium to watch him in the lab observing the red and white blood cells trying to see what was wrong, and also read through his mother’s medical journals.

Moreso, having grown up in church, Harris said he saw his parents care for people, and so the passion to help people grew on him.

“I’m from a family where some of us lived on little to nothing, and there were others with great wealth. I spent more time with those who had nothing to give, so I generally understood what helping someone meant and I grew to love it,” he pointed out.

After completing UWI and being frustrated by someone’s disparaging comments about an IT software company he started, Harris decided to try his hand at making an authentic Jamaican product, and this led to the birth of Shavuot Farms.

“The name means ‘feast of the brethren’, but for me it’s harvesting goodness. It started from wanting to make great Jamaican products, so the farming aspect came first, then we started exporting local produce like sweet potatoes and Scotch bonnet peppers, and employed local farm workers and people from the community we were in — May Pen — to come on board.

“Then I saw an advertisement from the Scientific Research Council about making herbal teas. We had no market, but I took an empty tea box, went to a packaging mart and stood there every night working on the idea of creating teas. When I did further research I saw there was a craze for natural products locally so I put in extra hard work and got the concept of herbal teas, and in 2013 Shavuot Farms started. We leased 160 acres of land through the agro parks and continued to source raw materials from local farmers,” Harris said.

And in 2014, after an expo in the United Kingdom and a showcase of his products which include soursop, moringa and soursop-moringa teas as well as Scotch bonnet pepper powder at the Fresh Produce Consortium at the Grosvenor House, he launched Shavuot International and now exports to England, the United States and St Lucia, and has received orders from Australia and Canada.

But though his business, which also makes castor oil, was doing well, Harris was not satisfied as he wanted to do more for people.

So through a HEART programme by the New Horizon Skills Training Centre in Spanish Town, he decided to employ the trainees to work in his factory and provide better opportunities for them.

“Our factory used to be in May Pen, and New Horizon was working in Spanish Town. There wasn’t any employment in that community, though they specialised in machinery operations,” he said. “They were mainly single moms and youth at risk who had the training. I looked into it and said I needed to help Jamaican people get jobs, and I decided to move the business to Wynter’s Pen where they were, taught them how to work the factory lines, taught them about quality control, and now they earn salaries.”

Now 90 per cent of Harris’ employees are single mothers and at-risk youth, and he says the greatest joy is knowing he could make a difference for them.

“There are so many single mothers in Jamaica who are educated, but they are victims of their circumstances. So when I decided to do this and target that community, it empowered them and then in turn their children are empowered, and instead of continuing the cycle of single parents, it is broken. They are empowered to not become a statistic but instead are motivated for change.

“Now they can look after their children, have bus fares, pocket monies, school fees, and they are excited and always looking forward to the next day. We also have our merchandisers; 99 per of our merchandisers in local stores are single mothers, so employment helps them in turn and allows us to feel satisfied.”

Harris added: “I also treat everyone with respect, courtesy and transparency despite status. I believe in honesty. Our word is our bond. If we say we are going to do something, we hold our end of the bargain. I always want better for people and I believe we should be happy for other people and happy to see them succeed in life.”