Sonya facing the challenges head-on

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Like many young entrepreneurs, Sonya Dunstan had high expectations for her confectionery business when she started out in 2003. Things, however, have been far from sweet.

Dunstan's A Taste Of The Caribbean has survived the teething pains most businesses face, like making the payroll and competing against established brands. This year has been her most challenging.

"Things started getting tough early last year with the recession when there was a decline in tourist arrivals," the 40-year-old Dunstan told The Sunday Gleaner. "Nobody was going to the gift shops to buy anything, and that's our niche market."

Since its inception, gift shops and in-bond stores on the north coast had provided A Taste Of The Caribbean with most of its revenue. Dunstan was geared for a career in tourism, having earned a degree in tourism and hospitality from Florida International University.

She was working at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay when she went into business.

While Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says that sector is recovering steadily, A Taste Of The Caribbean has still not bounced back from the global recession that crushed many companies in 2008 and 2009.

Ground zero

Dunstan said she had to lay off workers and closed shop for three months this year before reopening in August.

"I'm basically at ground zero. I have to be rebuilding myself," she said.

A €15,000 grant from the Canadian International Develop-ment Agency has helped Dunstan resuscitate A Taste Of The Caribbean which started out producing popular Jamaican-styled mint and tamarind balls as well as spices and jams.

Three years ago, Dunstan's company got a boost when it was among several local enterprises granted licences to sell their wares during the Cricket World Cup. The six-week tournament gave companies like A Taste Of The Caribbean valuable exposure but within a year, an economic collapse comparable to the Wall Street crash of 1929 spoiled the party.

Dunstan said it has also been tough for some of her colleagues.

"I was part of Gift and Craft Plus Stuff which was under the umbrella of Jamaica Business Development Centre and most of them are out of business.

Others are trying to stay afloat," she said.

Dunstan has diversified A Taste Of The Caribbean's menu in the last year.

In addition to jams and sweets, she produces jerk seasoning and a soy chutney geared at the health-conscious.

Resources needed

Patrick Christie, 37, pastor, Praise Tabernacle Deliverance Centre, Somerton, St James

I hope to change the life of the youth in my community and to enhance the kingdom by creating a better value of life for its members.

Resources, both human and financial, are the greatest barriers to that change. The way these barriers can be broken down is by getting more people or human resources working for the kingdom and also financial help from not only Government but from NGOs.

It takes cash to care, so funds are needed to get the youths out of their depressed state. We are not now talking about handout but the funding of job-creating programmes.