The New Duff opens storefront thanks to SBDC funding

Despite the hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, The New Duff managed to open the doors of its first storefront location on Sunday, thanks to funding from the Small Business Development Centre (SBDC), the company’s Business and Public Relations Manager Lazar Charlton told Guardian Business yesterday, adding that the company is also now preparing its products for export.

The company’s principals held a soft opening of the storefront at the West Bay Street locale, next door to Bahama Grill.

The storefront is covered with the company’s iconic red and white stripes. Inside is a factory where all of its savory bao buns, duffs and now breakfast sandwiches and teas are prepared.

Charlton said in addition to the company’s well-known ginger pork, curry mutton and jerk chicken buns, other savory items are being prepared and served at the new location. The company has teamed up with Bahleaf Premium Teas to offer its beverages.

“We’re pretty excited to share that well-traveled area and to be able to put our stamp on the food and beverage landscape in the vicinity and share it with other Bahamians,” said Charlton.

“We worked with SBDC to get some funding to secure the store space and we’re pretty happy about it. We’ve been working well with them and they have been forthcoming with any additional information we might need as a small business that is growing very quickly. That’s been a real blessing to be able to have them in our corner.”

The company has employed more people and is now developing new packaging in preparation to export its twist on duff to the United States and Canada by the spring of 2021.

Charlton said the company will continue to put new spins on traditional Bahamian dishes and will use the storefront – when the tourism market opens back up fully – to capture those visitors who use that strip for sightseeing and on their sojourn for local food and beverage options.

The New Duff experienced growth in 2020, despite the pandemic, thanks to its food truck at the Tin Ferl pop-up park at the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts.

“The Tin Ferl park really helped to expose us to a whole new customer base that we never really had before,” said Charlton.

“Being there on the historic Dundas property and on Mackey Street really helped us to spread through the community faster, and thankfully our name is now synonymous with a good product, with really good duff and with a really nice, savory menu line as well.”

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/the-new-duff-opens-storefront-thanks-to-sbdc-funding/