ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada – Grenada, which is responsible for more than 20 percent of the world’s nutmeg production, second only to Indonesia, said it is pleased that trade with Argentina is developing to the pre-pandemic level.
“To be specific, we are trading with Argentina, the trade with this South American nation began before the COVID-19. Like most markets, we too were also affected by the slowdown of the world’s economy by COVID-19 but as the world recovers, we too are recovering, and once again the Argentina market is almost back to normal,” said Leo Cato, chairman of the Grenada Cooperative Nutmeg Association (GCNA).
While he has not disclosed the financial difficulties linked to the COVID-19 pandemic for the GCNA, Cato said that several 40 feet containers comprising different grades of the island’s nutmeg are now being to Argentina.
“And right now, the orders are coming more frequently, so we see this as a good market for our nutmegs, and it’s just a matter of time for us to have orders that will be more than what he received before 2020,” he added.
GCNA executive board member, Byron Campbell, has described the South American market as of tremendous significance to the association, saying “it’s a market that we never thought about before…
“They are into a lot of food production and food processing,” he said, while suggesting that Grenada and by extension the region, needs to identify new markets for both importing and exporting of goods.
Besides Argentina, the GCNA has also sold nutmegs to India, Dubai, and most recently Israel.
‘The buyers from these territories made contact through our website and that has resulted in formalizing new contracts. Most of the time the first order is small but as time goes the orders increase in volume,” said Cato.
‘We know that the nutmeg has various uses, but we are convinced that our nutmeg is mainly used in the food industry for flavoring and preserving,” he added.
Nutmeg, dubbed “black gold” by locals, was introduced from the East to Grenada in 1843. Currently accounting for around nine percent of Grenada’s total harvested area, the crop provides income to approximately 30 percent of the island’s population.
