Published 28 August 2021

Basseterre

Buckie Got It, St. Kitts and Nevis News Source

“I was born and raised on the island of Nevis in the West Indies of the Caribbean and I worked at the Four Seasons resort here for 9 years, 6 of which I spent working in the food and beverage industry. In our remote location, it was hard to provide fresh produce to our guests. All imported food has to be delivered via ocean freight in shipping containers from Miami which takes a week. Produce with a longer shelf life are fine, but things like leafy greens are mostly spoiled by the time they arrive here. It is this that sparked my idea to get into hydroponics. I have no background in farming whatsoever, but seeing a great business opportunity, I spent a couple years researching, eventually bought an AmHydro system, and began growing in my backyard.

I used to sell mixed cases of whole heads to hotels and restaurants targeting tourists. However, because of COVID-19 the tourism sector crashed and I was left with a greenhouse filled with produce and no market. At that time I was selling on my island only. So I adjusted my approach, came up with a new retail product (resealable bags of cut loose leaf lettuce), and began marketing it to local supermarkets here and across on our sister island St. Kitts. Gradually I was able to increase production as my market expanded and now I am successfully supplying supermarkets with fresh local hydroponic lettuce!”