The two-day Produced in Montserrat Expo (PRIME) was hailed a success by organisers and attendees with many booth owners receiving numerous sales and orders for future products.
Organised by the Department of Trade and the Montserrat Arts Council, PRIME was held on Friday July 23 and Saturday, July 24 at the Montserrat Cultural Centre.
Adena Johnson, Head of the Department of Trade said she was pleasantly surprised at the continuous flow of visitors through the exhibition hall on Friday morning. More than 20 vendors displayed a variety of locally made products including wine, jewellery, art, hair and beauty products, fashion, plants, traditional sweets and healthy food options.
Ejiri MNI is a home accessories line created by the husband and wife duo of Andy and Dothlyn Kirnon during the 2020 lockdown. No pieces are alike and they seek to brighten homes with the handmade products from recycled materials.
Nicole Duberry debuted Elocin wines at the expo. She had on display her dry sorrel wine but also had samples of the sweet sorrel and a ginger sorrel wine for attendees. Her handcrafted wine cases were also well received.
Nine-year-old Faith Menzies eloquently presented the benefits of her sea moss and other locally bottled juices.
The Ministry of Agriculture supported the work of John “Gambi” Martin, who is a local cassava producer. They assisted him with packaging his cassava flour and cassava meal, also a cassava banana almond bread. It is hoped that in the near future the ministry will have a facility to assist agro-processors with the development and testing of new products.
Participants expressed interest in seeing the event repeated. Johnson said the Trade department has a series of activities planned to encourage development of more local production. She also encouraged entrepreneurs to take advantage of the Enterprise Development Scheme which was launched at the PRIME event.
The second day of PRIME featured a fashion show with pieces created by five local designers including Vericia Allen, Sheryl Cassell, Azalea, Imani the Crochet Diva, African Fashion & Batique.
The day ended with a musical entertainment from reigning soca monarch Trevvle and Volcanic Vybes Band.
