Tried and True?

Cadbury vs Charles Chocolates
Dole vs Trinidad and Tobago Citrus
Growers Association
Hong Wing vs Maxwell House
Get the picture?

The market may be flooded with an abundance of foreign goods, but TT manufacturers want to change that, if they could. Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA) president Anthony Aboud thinks TT’s local products can go toe to toe against  the foreign ones. To bring home the chubby, cement and coffee,  TTMA is making a pitch for people’s hearts and wallets through its Tried and True campaign, a campaign that pits TT’s home grown stuff against the global brands. The campaign, which is expected  be launched soon, is supported by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Tourism and Industrial Development Company (TIDCO) Limited. It aim is simple : To instil in local consumers a pride and loyalty to locally produced goods. It will be launched through an advertising campaign which will seek to highlight products made here and which have been a staple in many households for a number of years.

These products come from companies including Abel/Bestcrete, Kiss Baking Company, SM Jaleel and Company Limited and Trinidad Cement Limited, among others. (See Box) According to the TTMA publication, Industry Quarterly, the right to use the TT Tried and True logo in advertising or on packaging can be acquired through membership with the TTMA. This logo, it explained, is intended specifically for indigenous brands and will not be allowed for use on international brands manufactured here. Once a specified fee has been paid, participating manufacturers will have the use of the brand and the logo to the end of 2005. “The TT Tried and True programme,” the magazine stated, “demands quality.” For a TTMA member to qualify for the use of the label, the company must show that it has achieved a level of excellence and quality through market success and the standards — ISO, Food and Drug or other — to apply to its products. “The TT Tried and True label is therefore a commitment to the consumer by the TTMA that these products meet quality requirements.”

Aboud explained that the campaign basically offers to consumers those products which they have been using for years and which have delivered in terms of quality. He said, “It seeks to make them aware of the quality products that they have always been available here,” he said. “The benefit of supporting our own transcends into maintaining current manufacturing and this will mean increased and improved employment which is the answer for many who are currently without employment,” he said. Other analysts say though that this campaign may be a little too late to stem the tide and taste for foreign products. Thus far, Aboud said 21 local companies have signed on for the campaign which is expected to be launched in July. He dismissed talk that the Tried and True campaign was about defending local turf in light of the impending FTAA.

Although local manufacturers are currently consumed with making their products ready for global market and intense competition as a result of trading arrangements like the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), Aboud stressed that this campaign’s focus was primarily for the local market. It was about building brand recognition for locally manufactured products, he said and therefore, FTAA arrangements did not factor highly into its implementation. He said, “It is a Trinidad and Tobago initiative which would enhance consumer support of locally manufactured brands.” Aboud cited the example of the US, which, he explained, implemented a “Buy  USA Act” in the 1960s which was recently renewed. The Act stated that once the government intended to utilise any federal and state funds to buy products, these products must be manufactured in the US. Additionally, the US has also enacted a Labour Bill which states that once funds are being used for any kind of labour, US employees must be employed for the projects.

“How does this augur for the FTAA?” Aboud asked. “When we talk about trade, there is really nothing to stop something that is the best interest of a country. “We have foreign products in our market even without these bilaterals that we have negotiated with Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, we just want consumers to recognise the quality of our products.” However, one businessman whose company is involved in the campaign believes that it can serve to insulate local products against the intrusion of foreign products onto the local market. According to Marketing Manager of Abel/Bestcrete, George Elias, who was also recently appointed to the TTMA marketing committee the campaign will basically operate on two levels. Firstly, he said, the TTMA is currently doing a significant amount of advertising of the Tried and True brand on its own. “A manufacturer with that brand has the power of association which means that people will go into a supermarket and recognise the products associated with the campaign,” he said. This creates a sense of familiarity from which the manufacturers stand to benefit, he pointed out.

The second benefit, he continued, is the creation of consumer patriotism of loyalty which is similar to the “Buy Bajan” or “Buy Jamaican” campaigns. This will help to guard against the threat of foreign products entering the local market and help keep locally manufactured products on the shelves. Elias said, “We have tried Buy Local campaigns here before, but now is the time to get serious in light of the globalised open market.” “Even if we disregard the fact that the FTAA may not come on stream next year, we have to bear in mind the fact that there are low cost manufacturers from all over the world who are willing to come into our marketplace,” he maintained. Elias was of the view that, when compared to countries like Barbados and Jamaica, the Trinidad and Tobago public had fallen far behind in terms of brand loyalty. However, they were quite aware of the positive effects of buying local,  specifically the added benefit of job creation. “I think that over time we have gotten more sophisticated in the understanding that by buying local we are keeping people in jobs,” he maintained. “Whether we have the same level of patriotism as Barbados and Jamaica, we don’t know.”

One thing, he said, that this campaign is trying to get across is that by “buying local you are preserving local jobs and protecting foreign reserves.” The campaign, he explained, once launched, is expected to continue indefinitely. While people were already signing only for one year licensing, he said he does not see it stopping there. However, he said, there were certain guidelines which allowed the manufacturer to choose when they use the brand and how much. He said, “For one, many are not going to brand the products they are sending to the export market. It has no relevance in the foreign market. Also it is impractical to make sure that there is a little sticker on each product. “For me, there is no need to brand my blocks because there is no competition facing them, but I may want to print up stickers and place them on my windows. “We want people to know that Abel is on board and is one hundred percent local and we appreciate whatever support consumers can give,” he said.