The Black Farmer's journey to success (Part 2)

Barbara Ellington, Lifestyle Editor

In last Monday's Flair, we carried the first part of the remarkable success story of Jamaican-born millionaire Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones who lives in England. Here is the conclusion of his interview.

Plans to Expand

"There are three strands to my business, the food retail, clothing line and I plan to do a chain of restaurants called The Black Farmer Grill. It will be a sit-down fast-food place. It's not a good time to set it up at the moment because of the recession in the United Kingdom, but that is definitely something I want to do here in Jamaica too," Emmanuel-Jones told Outlook.

Having already started a business during one recession, he believes it's the best thing he ever did. "If you survive a recession, you benefit from the upturn at the end, plus I am a great believer that world is not going to come to an end before there is a resolution. I do believe that recessions are a good way of getting rid of natural wastage; it's painful of some people but it's an important process of cleaning out the system and getting on to our next level of development," he said.

political ambition

Having listened to Emmanuel-Jones, this reporter concluded that he was too a nice guy for the cut and thrust of politics and I asked him why he had chosen that path. He said candidly that he did wonder why he had offered himself at the last election. "I was shocked at how nasty people could be. It made me ponder, "I don't know that I want to do this but I decided to be myself, I was not going to waste time savaging other people to get on in politics. I will say what I have to say and if people want me, it's fine. If they don't, that is fine too," he said.

But he intends to go forward because among his numbers were 21,000 white people who wanted him as their MP and he just missed out by a narrow margin to the Liberal Democrat (he's Conservative). He said his supporters wanted someone who was straight talking and represented their interests. "There will not be another election for three years, so I have that time to do things with my businesses and as the next one approaches, I will start preparation," Emmanuel-Jones said.

So, can he stand up to the scrutiny and intrusion into his private life? He said there was a lot of scrutiny during the last election because it's rare to have a black person in the Conservative Party, but his philosophy is that you can't live your life in fear. "I will just have to be myself." Emmanuel-Jones plans to continue expanding his business over the next three years and then see what his political future holds.

As we approach Jamaica's 50th anniversary of Independence, how does he see the future of the land of his birth?

The Black Farmer posits that Jamaica is a country of potential but there is a real comfort in staying within the realms of potential. However, one day you have to jump out of that comfort zone and actually just do it. "I think there are many people with many ideas here in Jamaica and they just have to take them to the next level. There needs to be a cultural shift. We are such an island of individuals, that's why there is so much creativity here but great success is about collaboration and partnerships; about people not always thinking that someone is trying to rip them off; we need a cultural shift from that mindset," he said.

He said he noted with interest the new Prime Minister Andrew Holness' speech about an end to garrison politics. But, if he were a politician here, he would say the only way to move this country forward is through collaboration. "And even if we as politicians have to collaborate through a coalition, you have to do it because the country will never be able to fulfil its potential until we have the courage to make these giant steps," Emmanuel-Jones noted.

He also lamented the fact that Jamaica is such a fertile country, yet we import most of the food we eat. "That is a travesty that should not be happening. Where there is poverty, you get people who feed off and benefit from the poor person's fear and anxiety. What we have to do rather than taking comfort from being a friend of the poor is to encourage them to better themselves. The worst way to condemn a people is to say you love or you are a friend of the poor because you are actually saying you don't have any expectations of them. You don't demand that they push themselves to do more with their lives. What we have to say to them is that it is within this island's DNA to go and do remarkable things and those who choose not to do that are not being true to their DNA. Being poor is no longer an excuse."

Describing his style as hands-on, The Black Farmer owner says he does not get involved personally in the meat processing end but trusts his staff to do an excellent job. Food-processing plants in the UK are operated under very high standards. He revealed that he would be interested in establishing a processing plant here in future.

Fun for him is doing work and coming up with lots of ideas and meeting new people. He also loves making music and doing photography. His typical day finds him totally involved in whatever projects he's working on. "I like to create things and see them take shape." I don't like talk without action.

So, if this very accomplished man had only one week to live and could achieve one more dream, what would it be?

His response: "If I died tomorrow, I would die a happy man because I have done the things I wanted to do. I would be disappointed because there would be lots I hadn't achieved. But looking back, I have had a really good life, so it's a hard question because there is nothing I am hankering for. I am happy and settled, I have a really good life and I can do most things I want to do."

Emmanuel-Jones is married with three children, two sons and a daughter.

barbara.ellington@gleanerjm.com