ST. Kitts Has Really, Really Good Tomatoes
July 19, 2001

"A fresher, better-tasting tomato".  Is the  five words, Ted Fleissig, administrator, international sourcing for Royal Caribbean International, sums up the biggest advantage of being able to buy tomatoes direct from the source.  These are welcome words to the ears of Randolph Hamilton, senior sports tourism/tourism marketing officer for St. Kitts-Nevis.

"The packing plant, in close proximity to the farming location, is up and running and we are currently producing 7,000-10,000 pounds of tomatoes per week", Hamilton explains.  "The commitment, unconditional support and vision of Hon. Minister Dwyer Astaphan to find additional ways to work with the cruise industry is what made this whole project happen."

St. Kitts, Dwyer Astaphan, Minister of Tourism and Cedric Liburd, Minister of Agriculture have teamed up to build a unique business relationship with the cruise industry. Their goal is to have agro-produce grown in St. Kitts-Nevis purchased by the cruise lines operating in the Caribbean. 

While the prices are competitive to what Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines are paying now, the main benefit lies in being able to decrease or remove the transportation time.  By cutting transportation of produce from 7 days to right from the vine, cruise lines will have access to potentially better tasting tomatoes or generally riper produce.

The collaborative approach to the project has allowed the supply of project resources to be supplied from various public and private sector sources including the Ministries of Tourism, Agriculture and Culture, the sugar industry, Development Bank of St. Kitts-Nevis, Tropical Shipping, Farmers and other stakeholders.

Much support for St. Kitts-Nevis has been obtained for this project from external organizations including Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Tropical Shipping, The Republic of China on Taiwan (Agriculture Mission) and the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA).  The project team has been in continuous discussions with the RCCL purchasing staff.

Royal Caribbean's Ted Fleissig has been involved since the beginning. "Part of the discussion of the break-out sessions at the FCCA [Caribbean Cruise Conference & Trade Show] in Puerto Rico were Islands asking why the cruise lines didn't buy from them.  They kept coming back with sugar related items or items that the cruise lines were not looking for.  This is the first major step for an Island to produce something that the lines are looking for."Hamilton has appreciated the support.  "Royal Caribbean has been very good to work with and have really gone out of their way to provide all the assistance they could.  We are very appreciative of their help."

"The last stage in this puzzle is the supply chain," according to Fleisssig.  "Until the pier is finished in St. Kitts, not enough ships call there to make this project really go for all cruise lines.  We need to get the tomatoes to St. Maarten in a cost effective and expedient manner.  One of the ideas we have been discussing is a multi-customer container from St. Kitts to St. Maarten.  We are all working together to figure out a way to make this work."

Already Hamilton is flying 100 to 200 cases per week to a hotel supplier in St. Maarten.  With conversational inroads already made with the other cruise lines, Hamilton expects to be supplying the ships during the next cruise season.

"We have invested a lot of time into this project and have come so far", Fleissig explains. "While we would like to be the first, what is best for everyone is that this venture is a success.  So, in that interest, we hope that St. Kitts-Nevis is able to secure contracts with some of the other cruise lines calling on St. Kitts-Nevis. With those sales they will have the capital to continue to grow the product until the facilities in the port is built which will allow more ships to call St. Kitts-Nevis.

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