Select Brands and Rainforest Caribbean teamed up to cater to clients with a brand showcase at the Devon House East Lawns on Wednesday, November 15. This is the second such event hosted by the distribution duo this year, as they treated clients over in the western corner of the island to a similar affair just last month in Montego Bay.

For the Kingston edition, Fame FM‘s Richard “DJ Narity” Innerarity served the sounds as guests snacked and sipped the hump day blues away. Rainforest Caribbean handed over its signature quality ingredients to Chef Jacqui Tyson, who added her signature magic touch, along with some fresh herbs and years of culinary excellence, resulting in some delightful dishes. Tyson and her team transformed Rainforest’s lamb chops into grilled wonders that practically flew off the grill as patrons couldn’t seem to get enough. Tyson’s catering also took Rainforest’s new line of pasta products for a dip in savoury sauces that included vegan, tomato and a fitting representation of Rainforest’s transition, the shrimp and lobster pasta.

Many know Rainforest as a frozen seafood distributor, but the brand has expanded its offerings in recent years, officially dropping the ‘Seafood’ from its name in 2020.

According to Evrod Wilson, director of sales at Rainforest, the partnership with Select Brands was an opportunity to showcase the growth in each company’s portfolio and highlight the services Rainforest will now be offering as it continues to expand its business.

“Select Brands does beverages, and we do food, so we thought it would be a very symbiotic partnership. Now that we have rebranded from Rainforest Seafood to Rainforest Caribbean, we are more of a broadline food company. We still have our frozen and chilled products, but we have expanded to include dry products, like pasta and a lot more. We want to be more of a one-stop shop for our clientele, both on the trade side and the food service side,” Wilson shared.

Both brands had plenty to celebrate, indeed, as Marketing Manager Jaime Smith highlighted Select Brand’s own recent expansion.

“We’ve recently acquired the Stone’s Ginger Wine brand. It’s our first owned brand. Today is also a celebration of that because it was only just finalised last month. It’s still the Stone’s Ginger Wine that our clients are familiar with, but we’ve always treated it as if it was our own, and now it is our own,” Smith revealed.

In underscoring the significance of Wednesday’s shindig, Smith spoke to Select Brands’ growth in other areas, as well.

“We get to reconnect with a lot of our customers that we haven’t seen in a while. We have a lot of new team members, and we also want our clients to see us as a team and to see how much we’ve grown since COVID-19, as well. So it’s not just our product offering that has grown significantly with us going after brands we want and also brands coming to us looking for distribution in Jamaica,” she said, adding that partnering with Rainforest for this year’s celebrations made for the perfect match as the companies serve a similar clientele.

While Rainforest let the quality of its products shine through themed food stations, which included a grand sushi bar and a meat section offering lamb chops, beef tenderloin and barbecue glazed pigtails, Select Brands complemented with a Stone’s Ginger Wine bar, a wine bar and a cocktail bar, all fully stocked with the company’s extensive catalogue of wines, spirits and beverages lining every shelf.

Guests, who included representatives from hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets, were able to sample new products and even test out some new ideas for their own establishments. They were able to leave with Select Brands goodie bags and the reassurance that both Select Brands and Rainforest Caribbean have them covered from bar to pantry.

As two of Jamaica’s most prominent food and beverage distributors, the brands also stressed their ongoing commitment to serving their Jamaican clientele with a well-considered, quality-assured catalogue.

“We attend food shows across the globe, and we find partners that align with our brand. We make our selections primarily based on quality and affordability for our clientele. Our clients also want products that will fit into their current operations. We don’t want to change how they prepare their meals, so if they are used to pasta that cooks in 10 minutes, we have to take that into consideration as well,” added Subrena Khama, export and food services development manager at Rainforest Caribbean.