Outstanding Belizean Businesses Featured During Expo in Taiwan
Belizean businesses were on full display at the 2022 Coffee, Tea, and Wine Expo in Taiwan in November. Products from companies such as Wine Time, Belize Chocolate Company, and Travellers Liquors stole the show during the expo with their outstanding packaging and appealing products. The exhibits were made possible through a partnership between BELTRAIDE and the Embassy of Belize in the Republic of China, Taiwan. And, today an award ceremony was held in Belize City to recognize those merchants who sent their products to export. News Five’s Paul Lopez filed the following report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Beltraide participated in the 2022 Coffee, Tea, and Wine Expo in Taiwan, from November eighteenth to the twenty-first. The annual trade show is said to attract visitors and professionals from across the Asia Pacific. And, today the owners of those Belizean products that were on display at the event in Taiwan received recognition at an award ceremony in Belize City.
Derrol Vernon
Derrol Vernon, Owner, Wine Time
“My wine is grape, a locally grown grape. It is a locally grown grape. The grape actually came from Cuba. What I did with it because I don’t have the amount I need it fused it with other fruits, grape with apple, grape with ginger, and so forth, grape with strawberry to give it that distinct look and that distinct taste. So, it is something new and different, and very creative. From a kid I use to make locally made wine, berries and cashews and all of that. My dad taught me. So, I was doing this from I was a kid. But I always wanted to create a product. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur a business man.”
Joanne Beaumont
Joanne Beaumont, Owner, Belize Chocolate Company
“We are located in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. We have a shop there and we also have a shop in Caye Caulker. We started the business making chocolate in 2007 where we went to the first Cacao Festival came home with a bag of beans and started experimenting in our kitchen. And, we progress from wholesale in 2012. We opened the first shop in San Pedro. We are celebrating our ten year anniversary on the twelfth of December. So, that is very exciting.”
James Mesh
James Mesh, Owner, Oxmul Coffee
“Oxmul Coffee actually came from what people thought a crazy idea, like generally in Belize we are not known for creating coffee. So, I decided to give it a challeneg4e and we started growing coffee in 2005, we started with three plants and now we have one acre of coffee planted. We do the whole process manually. We focus on three important things. We focus on culture, tradition, and food security.”
Cheil Mayan Chocolate, Travelers Liquors, and Marie Sharp were also among the Belizean companies that were represented at this year’sCoffee, Tea, and Wine Expo in Taiwan. Dr. Leroy Almendarez, the Executive Director at BELTRAIDE, says these events present an opportunity for greater market access.
Leroy Almendarez
Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Director, BELTRAIDE
“We continue to seek new market access, but this is great market access. Ambassador and I were speaking to Mr. Saqui just a short while ago and of course we continued to speak to you because your wines now, believe me when we look at it I don’t know whether or not if you take a look, packaging, the difference you are producing as a product compared to what we are importing is really not a whole lot of difference. And, you know that we have agreed to continue to work with you. This kind of access is very important. I see Ms. Marie Sharp who is a global ambassador. Her products can be found in most of the markets. As a matter of fact we were across the border in Guatemala and when we asked for pepper we got Maries Sharp that is what we got.”
David Chien
David Chien, Ambassador of R.O.C Taiwan to Belize
“Enterprises has played a vital role in the development and advancement of Belize especially during the recovery of COVID-19 pandemic. This year Taiwan Embassy and BELTRAIDE with support from the Central American Trade Office in Taiwan and the Embassy of Belize in Taiwan worked together to send high quality Belizean products to be showcased at several international shows in Taiwan, such as the Taiwan International Food Show.”
Reporting for News Five I am Paul Lopez.
