Oliver's BBQ sauce

Comic takes food business seriously

Comedian and actor Oliver Samuels is all about serious business as he launched his barbecue sauce in South Florida, United States of America yesterday.

And he tells The Gleaner this is just the first in his line of products. "I plan to do more, I found a nice formula, we experimented with it and now we are ready for the market," he told Food in a telephone interview. He said the barbecue sauce is making its debut in Florida because he wants it to have an international appeal. "I will see how my fans respond to it and then by this summer, I will be ready for the Jamaican and London markets," Samuels said.

For this new venture Samuels has partnered with Valaine Farms Inc, a Jamaican-owned company based in Florida. Valaine Farms are suppliers of fresh produce to restaurants and supermarkets, and distribute high-quality food products for retail to consumers. Nikki Fairclough, CEO and president of Valaine Farms, said that she is honoured that they are on-board with Samuels on this project.

"He is a respected and a well-known Jamaican personality and his energetic spirit combined with his love for food are the perfect match for this exciting line. I can always count on him to make me laugh, so it's fun working with him, and we look forward to developing a line of products that boasts exceptional quality and taste," said Fairclough.

Love for food

Many might know Samuels for his acting skills and humour, but may be surprised to see him making barbecue sauce. But Samuel's response to that is, "Why not? Some people sell condoms, others T-shirt, or cake soap, and I choose to sell food products," said Samuels quite comically.

But fun and games aside, his decision to go into the food business is that he loves food and wanted to share some of what he likes with others.

"I am sure my sauce will enhance the taste of everyone's cooking, and it is absolutely rich in flavour," he added.

Samuels also told Food that his plans are to expand the food line to include a number of items. He also plans to make the products available to his global network of fans in the near future, expanding throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the Caribbean. Fairclough also added that throughout the year they will expand the line and its international availability through a number of strategic avenues.

Strong distribution network

"We are in the process of engaging and securing a strong distribution network, and a great website will follow suit," said Fairclough.

Many Jamaicans have been asking when will the product be available locally, but she said they are currently in discussion with a few local distributors and will continue to facilitate new inquiries, and as soon as an agreement has been made, Jamaican consumers will be able to purchase the product.

Samuels is anticipating good things with his sauce because within minutes of announcing on Facebook and Twitter: @oliversamuels24, that the products would be made available, fans in Texas, New York, Toronto, England and a number of other places began asking where they could get it. "Therefore, we know there is opportunity for explosive growth."