From Tuesday, January 11 through to Monday, the 17th, the inaugural JamaicaDeli Foodies and Wellness Retreat took place at Charela Inn, Negril. The brainchild of JamaicaDeli founder and Jamaica Cold-Pressed Juices Chief Juicing Officer Toussaint Davy, the six-day wellness retreat was five years in the making. While trading Jamaican produce at London’s prestigious Partridges of Duke of York Square and tiring of the bone-cold weather, Davy booked a trip to Jamaica. There, a lightbulb went on after noticing the effects food and wellness had on his body and soul.

“It was important to launch in January as traditionally it’s the time when the island’s hotels have less visitor activity. Additionally, it’s Jamaica’s 60th year of independence and a fluid pandemic; I figured it was time to celebrate our best lives with like-minded people,” said Davy.

The intimate and relaxing grounds of Charela Inn’s 59-room boutique hotel served as the retreat’s hub. Attendees engaged daily in sunrise and sunset yoga sessions led by yoga instructor Nicole White, five-course dinners in the inn’s French fusion restaurant Le Vendôme, an artisanal chocolate-making session led by award-winning chocolatier, Nick Davis, founder, OneOne Cacao, lunch at Stush in the Bush, and paint and sip session, with Negril’s seven-mile beach as the backdrop, guided by LuxuryJA founder Kesi Gardner. The event culminated with Davy’s sugarcane juice cocktail-making session, which was a hit with the Retreat’s guests.

“There’s a lot of activity at the hotel; this is how it used to be,” mused Charela Inn owners Daniel Grizzle and his daughter Sophie Grizzle-Roumel during one evening’s dinner service where over 100 people filled the beachfront restaurant.

“I look forward to the next retreat later in the year, with more wellness activities and hand-picked Jamaican-made brands,” said Gardner. The JamaicaDeli Foodies and Wellness Retreat is a new gem on Jamaica’s culinary and wellness calendar.