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TOUFIC HADEED, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

We realized that we could no longer depend on a few agricultural products to keep our economies afloat and cause our population to prosper.
One of the areas that it became absolutely necessary to build and develop was the area of manufacturing. However in recent years the manufacturing industry in Grenada has been less active than is desirable and we still import the vast majority of what we consume as a population.

Of course this state of affairs wrecks havoc on a country’s balance of trade and we as a government and people are anxious to see manufacturing accelerate and pull the economy along with it.

TO THE RESCUE

Venezuelan businessman Thomas Colmenares is the Managing Director of Grenada Chemical Company (GrenChem) and Mr. Hadeed is the Business Development Director.

Colmenares said it has been two years since Hadeed first raised the idea of establishing such a company in Grenada during a meeting of the two men who have long had a business relationship.
From back then Toufic was confident that there was good potential in developing a line of cleaning products here. The idea lay dormant for a while until Thomas raised it again and told Toufic that he was ready to “get this thing on the road”. According to him since then a lot has happened, many obstacles overcome and strategic alliances formed on the road to taking it from an idea to a reality and they are now anxious to get established.

THE MEN BEHIND THE PROJECT

This wealth of experience in manufacturing at a high standard and his knowledge of markets well prepare him for this challenge.
Thomas’s range of cleaning products is well established in Venezuela. His business group there has been directly involved in manufacturing since 1991.
This means his company already has lots of experience in manufacturing and marketing the products in what is a very competitive market and competes favorably with giant multi-nationals like Proctor and Gamble and Colgate Palmolive.

This means Thomas is bringing both experience and technological know-how, which will be transferred to Grenada and will be included in local skills training.

WILL IT SUCCEED?

He recalls after Hurricane Ivan when people were forced to purchase agricultural produce from St. Vincent how reluctantly they did so and how much they would have preferred to use local produce.
Toufic has no doubt that once the new lines of products hit the supermarket shelves and people realize that they are top quality products, reasonably priced and made in Grenada they will put them in their shopping baskets.
Toufic describes Thomas as a motivated, hardworking and driven individual who believes that once you are uncompromising and consistent on quality and competitive on pricing the rest will take care of themselves. He too is very excited about the local market. He has done a 6 month market research study, spoken to the businessmen and is confident that Grenadians are willing to support a local product once it is fairly priced and of good quality. These two requirements Grenchem is already confident it can satisfy.

THE COMPANY

THOMAS COLMENARES, MANAGING DIRECTOR

The five products that will start the process is a liquid dishwashing detergent called Diamond Glow; a fabric softener called Softy; Multi Clean a disinfectant/all purpose cleaner; Grease Off degreaser and a glass cleaner called Glass Shine.

The equipment and raw materials necessary to manufacture these products have already been purchased and are awaiting shipment from Thomas’ company in Venezuela.

Thomas explained that right now the company is focusing on setting up the plant and depending on how much the demand increases and as the company gets rooted it will determine how much the technology improves based on necessity.

The production capacity right now is in the region of 3000 to 5000 liters of products. How much this increases too will depend on demand.

Toufic´s main focus will be on exporting to neighboring islands such as St. Vincent, Barbados and St. Lucia. He has already begun establishing contact to this end and is receiving positive responses no doubt based on his already good reputation in the industry and people trust him to be involved with something of a high standard.

THE EMPHASIS

Toufic said once you show the Grenadian people that quality is everything then you can talk about increasing production and employment.
Both the products themselves and the manufacturing process have been approved by the Grenada Bureau of Standards after many meetings with that entity and careful examination of what the company plans to produce and how it plans to produce it.

Those of us with environmental concerns can sleep easy. Grenchem’s products are made entirely of biodegradable raw material so that once it washes down the drain it will break down naturally and not have any harmful effect on the environment.

THE BENEFITS

Thomas said it is an unfortunate reality that as of now everything in Grenada along the line of products he is introducing is imported and this creates a significant loss of foreign exchange.

He said the people of Grenada do not benefit economically and socially from imports in a line like this but when things are manufactured here the country starts to see daily benefits to supporting the local industry.

The fact that the company is located in Seamoon will bring much needed employment and business activity to the rural community. Initially it will employ 12-15 persons and as the product range and the market and by extension production expands more and more employees will become necessary.

Besides transferring the technology that is used in Venezuela, to Grenada local workers will have to opportunity to train in a new set of skills. Grenchem will not only be manufacturing its products here but will also manufacture the plastic containers bringing more technology transfer. GrenChem also plans to supply the local agro-business industry with their product packaging needs. Both partners feel confident that they will get the needed human resources right here to do the job.

CONCLUSION

The local distributors and supermarkets have already expressed their willingness to carry the products and the Government of Grenada is excited about the products being made here in Grenada. They have done their share in granting concessions on raw material.

MY VIEW