Local agro-processor to getdisplay stand at CMC supermarket

The country’s leading agro-processor – Nakima Williams of Kimas Delectables – is to have a display stand at the government-run CMC Supermarket where her products will be featured. Agriculture Minister E.P Chet Greene announced that he has started discussions with the management of the supermarket, to arrange to have the special stand for the agro-processor who won the most prizes at this year’s Piango Festival. “It’s about incentivizing the creativity, production, and the effort seen at the Piango Festival. It is also designed to trigger the competitive interest in other agro-processors for 2024 and beyond. So, when one gets the benefits of winning the overall prize, this should inspire others to be creative and to raise the overall level of the competition,” Greene stated. The minister is, however, appealing to all residents of Antigua and Barbuda to support not just ‘Kimas Delectables’ but all local agro-processors. “None of this would make sense if we do not have an equal level of enthusiasm and support from the public,” he added. He said he would support a national campaign, even going house to house to encourage the consumption of local agricultural produce. Along with the dis[1]play at CMC supermarket, Williams will also get an opportunity to participate in a trade expo in London, in November, organized by Antigua and Barbuda’s High Commissioner, Karen-Mae Hill. Meanwhile, Williams said she welcomes the opportunity to have her products displayed at CMC supermarket, noting that it is a popular supermarket for locals and that she shops there from time to time. Williams revealed that she started agro-process[1]ing as a hobby, by making sauces and other products mainly as parting gifts for family and friends, who live overseas. However, in 2018, she made several items and gave them to a friend who participated in the Piango festival. That friend won the categories she entered. This led Williams to enter in 2019 under her name and she won five of the seven categories she entered. After the resumption of the festival in 2022 following the COVID-19 break, she returned to enter three categories where she emerged winner in two. This year she won four of the six categories she entered. “I would like to see Antigua and Barbuda pro[1]duce more products, using our fruits and vegetables which are highly organic. We should be able to pro[1]duce for local consumption as well as for export. This would naturally benefit us as a people eating more wholesome food rather than eating imported processed food. It would also help our economy. We should seek ways to utilize our fruits and vegetables rather than having them go to waste,” she declared. Kimas Delectables produces jams, jellies, hot sauce, anchar, chutney, cakes, pastries, confectioneries, and juices. Williams is a full-time teacher and has been teaching for the last seventeen years. She currently works at the Mary E. Pigott primary school and also does private catering