Retired Police Officer and Former National Athlete, Trevor Modeste, has undertaken a somewhat new business venture that is making several local fruits available year-round.The former St. Andrew AnglicanSecondary School (SAASS) student was not only an all-round athlete, but a champion Javelin thrower that represented SAASS in intercol during the 1970’s and 80’s .
Modeste, who served for more than 20 years, in the Police Force, is one of the few athletes to
have served as a Grenada national athlete for more than 20 years. After having a successful stint as a national athlete and as a law maker,this Paradise, St. Andrew native, transferred his athletic discipline, his perseverance and aptitude for success to his job as a police officer, into the art of agro-processing and is the mastermind behind a line of dehydrated fruit condiments and flours under his Pam’s Choice Brand. He has mastered the art of dehydrating, following intense research and development.
“I got my first set of dehydrated fruits from an African man. Around that time,I was just promoted to inspector and given my heavy schedule, it was really hard to train. What he gave me really helped; the dehydrated mangoes and bananas,gave more energy, so, when I retired, I thought this was the perfect initiative to undertake.
His Pam’s Choice venture officially hit the market in 2016, after years of research and development. They offer a wide variety of products, which include-dehydrated sorrel, pepper flakes, banana cake mix, plantain flour, mango rolls, mango chips, soursop powder, just to name a few .
He recalls his days visiting the different estates in St.Andrew, with family. He said this is one of the attributes that motivated him to get into this type of agro-processing.
“I grew up on Paradise Estate. I moved around on Pearls Estate; the one in Moyah, Conference and St.Johns. I had family who worked there; I saw how hard they were working, and no one was really getting any result from what they were producing.Therefore, I decided that my retirement venture must include something that ensures that our farmers get returns from their hard work.”
The retired officer, whois alsoa survivor of end-stage renal disease, or ESRD, explained that his venture is driven by a team of women with support from his children and family. Managing such a project, comes with many challenges, his biggest being access to financing.
“I’ve invested about $92,000 in this project, and I’ve applied for more, however I have been denied on several occasions; this is my biggest issue yet. We need incentives for our agro-processors and our small businesses. When we look at the cost of production and the electricity costs; we need incentives.”
Value addition, Trevor believes can be critical inmitigating the imbalance of trade. He explained, “imagine if we add value to our products and can reduce on imports, how much healthier our population will be. We have enoughlocal fruits that we can process and offer to our local markets, to reduce on our levels of import. My snacks can be used in appetizers, smoothies, and desserts.The kids around here even love when I use the soursop powder to make the lollies.”
Modeste is hopeful that he can tap into more markets and have his products available at major supermarkets.
Products can be found locally at Archibald’s Distributors, St. Andrew, and A & M Depo, Cherry Hill, St. George.Several products are also bought and ordered by Grenadians living abroad.
People wishing to purchase from the line of products can do so by contacting Mr.Modeste on (473) 418-9761.
