Agriculture ministry finalizing arrangement with Atlantis resort for food production

The Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources is in the final stages of an arrangement with Atlantis Paradise Island to provide the resort with Bahamian grown produce, with the company offering use of its own acreage for production, Agriculture Minister Michael Pintard said yesterday.

Pintard revealed that the ministry has had similar discussions with other hotel properties, including Albany and Baha Mar, as the ministry seeks to enforce that at least 40 percent of food items purchased by hotels and restaurants be locally produced.

“We do not believe that we need to use the authority we have to restrict the import of any item. All of our discussions with the wholesalers, food stores and hoteliers thus far have been very fruitful. And so we expect that they will be supportive as they have indicated they will be of Bahamian producers,” Pintard said during his contribution to debate on the 2020/2021 mid-year budget in the House of Assembly.

“Right up to yesterday we have been in discussions with one of the leaders at Atlantis. Atlantis has gone as far as to provide us with the top 25 items that they purchase. We have a good sense of the quantities they order, the intervals at which they order, the expenditure that they spend and they are prepared to enter into contractual arrangements with Bahamian farmers in order to supply those items for the hotel.

“We are now in the advanced stage of closing that arrangement. In fact, they have gone even further to indicate that they are prepared to make available some of the acreage that they have in order to facilitate this arrangement that we’re working on. We’ve had similar fruitful conversations with Albany, with Baha Mar and several other hotels in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. And the food stores have also attended those meetings and they have been generous in their advice and commitment to work with Bahamian farmers.”

Pintard said over the past several months the ministry has been focused on developing an ecosystem and infrastructure to support the production of value-added goods.

He said The Bahamas is currently spending $400 million a year on value-added goods that should be produced locally.

“We are spending an additional $650 million on fruits, vegetables, proteins such as beef, pork, sheep and goats and of course poultry, both eggs and meat. We have an opportunity to create tremendous wealth in The Bahamas if we are to simply produce much of what we are presently importing. Over the last six months we have taken the allocation made available through the Ministry of Finance to begin to eat away at that food import bill.”

He continued, “We are excited by the government having given us permission. So for all of the persons out there who are producing value-added goods, you will now be in the position over the course of the next six months and the following year to get concrete support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources to help you source a number of the ingredient required for your value added goods – containers, jars, etc. – required for the packaging; and we will continue to work as we have started with you to ensure that your capacity is built through good manufacturing practices.”

The post Agriculture ministry finalizing arrangement with Atlantis resort for food production appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.

source https://thenassauguardian.com/agriculture-ministry-finalizing-arrangement-with-atlantis-resort-for-food-production/