JAMAICA BUSINESS NEWS: October 11th – 17th, 2014

CONCEPT BUILDS MUSIC INDUSTRY IN CARIBBEAN—10/11/14
One Caribbean Voice (OCV) began in 1997 and was based on a composition by John Arnold. Since then the name has been registered as a Sanch Electronix trademark and become a business model. In 2014, Sanch celebrates the 30th anniversary of Signal Hill Alumni Choir with the OCV Tobago event. The vision of the business model and concept was captured in the original composition, said founder and CEO of Sanch, Simeon Sandiford.

SHREDDED CALLALOO A VIABLE BUSINESS IN JAMAICA—10/12/14
Grace Agro Processors in St. Elizabeth has a thriving business in shredded callaloo, one of its popular brands in the Fresh N Ready line. The facility preps, washes, and strips the plant by hand before it is shredded by machine. According to Taji Alleyne, general manager of the company, the callaloo was being sent to another processor that exports it as a side business. GK Foods has contracts to provide shredded bulk callaloo for two other processors that package it for export.

MANGROVE RESTORATION PROJECT STARTED IN JAMAICA—10/13/14
A year-long plan to restore mangroves in Jamaica has been launched by the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation. The program “Jamaican Awareness of Mangroves in Nature (J.A.M.I.N.) is a venture of the University of the West Indies-Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory and the Caribbean Student Environmental Alliance. It will involve teachers and students from William Knibb High and Holland High Schools in Falmouth learning about the importance of mangroves to Jamaica’s marine ecosystems.

MARIJUANA COMPANY FROM DENVER TO CONSULT WITH JAMAICA—10/14/14
Jamaican is considering the decrimninalization of marijuana and has decided to use the consultation services of a Denver, Colorado, cannabis company United Cannabis, in research and development. The company is looking to establish a presence in Jamaica and will provide cultivation consulting services and discuss its “seed-to-sale” business model.