A Bahamian outsourcing company has taken root in China in an effort to provide a one-stop shop for local businesses seeking inexpensive Asian goods.
Orico Bahamas Limited, featuring a number of Bahamians fluent in Mandarin, is already working with retail powerhouses such as Kelly's, Phil's Food Services Limited and Solomon's, according to one of its co-founders.
Nolan Carey, the CEO of Door 2 Door Imports, is now consolidating all of his business in the U.S. and Latin America to China.
The new company, with offices both domestically and abroad, works with factories in China, scouts the goods, and provides full shipping and customs solutions for its clients. The all-Bahamian venture, Carey said, is a testament to the surging business relationship between The Bahamas and the Asian superpower.
"We have six Bahamians in China right now that speak Mandarin," Carey told Guardian Business. "It is beyond a million-dollar idea."
His Bahamian counterparts throughout China are intended to not only source the goods requested by retailers, but also serve as ambassadors that greet guests arriving in the country. Also linked with Orico is a full tour company experience, whereby it arranges trips for executives or everyday Bahamians to visit the surging nation.
Orico has a registered company in Hong Kong called Shigi Industries, Carey noted.
He said Door 2 Door Imports has helped create synergies within the new company and get it off the ground much quicker.
"We have grown the confidence of clients who know what Door 2 Door has already accomplished," he explained. "It's a one-stop shop. We can take you to China, put you in a hotel, you're greeted by Bahamians. We can offer full customs service and brokerage and deliver the goods to your door."
Those goods, according to Carey, are often 200 percent cheaper than the equivalent in the U.S.
For example, he said one of the company's first clients is now in the process of shipping bicycles.
"You would find the same product in Walmart for $85. We are getting the product at $18 in China. You must pay shipping costs and tariffs, of course, but you would pay that from the U.S. as well. At the end of the day, it ends up being much cheaper," according to Carey.
Orico is now in the process of accepting orders for the Christmas season. While the company is already dealing with larger retailers, Carey said dozens of "mom and pop" stores are also coming on board.
A 20-foot container can be divided between five clients, he explained, to accommodate smaller needs and more modest budgets.
Clarence Albury, head of sales for Orico, is also a university graduate who studied in China. The bahamian citizen, like many of his colleagues, speaks fluent Mandarin. He believes greater business participation with China will ultimately empower local business.
"We are in contact with a lot of factories in China and these are the guys we send out to look at pricing and purchasing," Albury told Guardian Business. "We have confirmed clients who will be traveling to China next week, visiting a few factories, and taking advantage of our travel tours."
A major inspiration for the company has indeed been the growing relationship between China and The Bahamas.
Baha Mar, the $3.5 billion project on Cable Beach, is being funded by the Export-Import Bank of China and constructed by China State Construction Engineering Corporation. Chinese contractors have secured other work in the capital, including the Airport Gateway project.
State-owned Export-Import Bank of China is also financing a new port and bridge in Abaco at a cost of $41 million.
On a regional scale, the Asian superpower has offered $1 billion in preferential loans last year to support economic development in Caribbean countries.
"I know for a fact that the relationship with China is strong. We have nowhere to go but up," Albury said.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian