ANDROS, Bahamas -- North Andros produce won the confidence of executive chefs from top New Providence hotels and restaurants following a weekend tour of farms there.  It was another in a series of conferences BAIC has been organising between New Providence-based buyers and Family Island farmers.
"We will do the best we can to assist farmers in opening to them a market that is estimated to be worth $500 million," said BAIC executive chairman Edison Key. "That is the value of food products we import into this country, much of which we can produce right here."
The team toured farms, the agro-industrial park, the government's packing-house, and docks.
Chefs attending were Simeon Hall Jr (Solomon's Fresh Market), Fred Van Breugel (Van Breugel Restaurant), Emmanuel Gibson (One & Only Ocean Club), Jason McBride (Wyndham Nassau Resort), Mark Percival (Atlantis Resort), Ingrid Darling (Breezes SuperClubs), Luis Manyelbatlle (Poop Deck West), Pascal Hollander (Lyford Cay Club), Shaker Estaphane (Old Fort Bay Club), Don Ingraham (RIU Bahamas), and Kabuti Lockhart (British Colonial Hilton).
"The chefs were all very excited by what they saw," said Deanne Gibson, Ministry of Tourism's Culinary Tourism manager. "Dialogue between them and the farmers was positive.  I am even more pleased that the chefs are interested in producing indigenous dishes using these products.  There are some challenges including grading, packaging, and transportation, but nothing that cannot be overcome."

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