Zion Barrow receives a chocolate sample from Shardell Cozier of Fine Foods Inc.
The Barbados Chocolate and Culinary Festival is a sweet treat for many, but a financial challenge hangs over this industry, threatening any possible expansion.
The third edition of this Festival was held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre yesterday, and was eight hours of sweet fun for those lucky people who came out.
Organiser of the Festival, Margaret King said she was pleased with the public’s response while adding that “the event has piqued the interest of chocolate and chocolate making in Barbados”.
She spoke of her plans to grow the showcase. “I hope to see it become a multi-day event, which is what I envisioned to start with, but it is a lot of work. It is still new. We are in the third year. People are still learning about it and the more we get the word out there, the more people attend and talk about it, I think it will become a multi-day event just like the other chocolate festivals around the world.”
Turning her attention to speak about chocolate making locally, King said one of the disadvantages faced has been the high duties on importing the main ingredient for creating chocolate.
“We don’t grow the cocoa bean here. I think there are some wild beans growing in Welchman Hall Gully and places like that. …I tried to bring in some chocolate for distribution, a really good brand I fell in love with, but the duty is so high and that has been a disadvantage in trying to bring in goods. Even bringing the packaging, you get hit pretty hard with the duty. If they can lessen that for manufacturers that would be awesome. People are becoming really interested in the event and since it is a global event, I want to make it more open,” she said.
Yesterday’s event was the final on the calendar of activities for the Barbados Tourism Product Authority’s inaugural Rum and Sugar Season. Patrons made stops at the approximately 20 booths where there was not only colour to captivate the eye, but welcoming exhibitors willing to speaking about their different offerings.
Samples were tried and purchases made from a variety of cupcakes, chocolate pastries, cakes, fudge and chocolates offerings. There were also natural juices and wines to be tried and purchased, as well as culinary demonstrations to witness.
Individuals who are health conscious were not left out as they were some gluten-free options available. There was also a fruit and vegetable carving demonstration by Marlon Waterman of Kreative Karving. (MG)