Willie’s got ice cream, got milk

For the past 13 years, the name Willie’s conjured up thoughts of home-made  ice cream. Now the company’s CEO and founder, Wilbur Balgobin, is taking his entrepreneurial skills into the milk business.

Willie’s Ice Cream now has a sister company called Dairy Fresh Limited. On his foray into the dairy industry, Balgobin said he hired a consultant to look into the market for his new venture. “There was definitely a niche for fresh pasteurised milk,” he said. But more than that, ‘ we realised that with the World Trade Organisation (WHO) rules coming into effect and with the Free Trade Association of the Americas (FAA) on stream, the foreign European governments would be forced to remove subsidies and therefore the cost of powdered milk will be increased, so we felt that the time was right.” He added that the niche market would be consistent with the Government’s policy of becoming self sufficient in food. Balgobin said Dairy Fresh Limited has been on the drawing board for a little over a year with loans amounting to $1.8 million being secured by the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and the First Citizens Bank (FCB) to purchase equipment, chillers and a whole new fleet of refrigerated vehicles.

Balgobin formed his ice cream company in early 1987. Upon his return from England, Balgobin  yearned for something challenging and started looking at  various business ventures. He found that the home made ice cream business at the time was centred in Port-of-Spain and other areas were neglected. “After doing  leg work, driving all over the country I eventually settled in Montrose, Chaguanas with my ice cream cart and my two employees,” he remembers.

As the business grew, “I  felt that I was on the way to success, so I  went on to open some more shops before anyone else could jump in.” With the help of the Industrial Development Cor-poration (IDC), presently TIDCO, Balgobin was able to borrow $20,000 to fund his new enterprise. Balgobin said there were many challenges  faced along the way. For instance, he had to learn various courses related to food expertise production of dairy products. His export market opened up in 1995 when Guyana became the  first country to import his ice cream products. By the year 1997 Willie’s Ice Cream was the first Caribbean retail franchise to open in Florida and the United States. Balgobin said he received an export grant of TT$100,000 from TIDCO for the penetration of the Florida market. That same year Wilbur Balgobin won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Willie’s Ice Cream is now a household name both regionally and internationally with franchisees in Guyana, Barbados, Fort Lauderdale in Miami and the United States. In Trinidad and Tobago there are 19 outlets; ten company-owned outlets and nine franchisees, amouting to 42 shops.

Balgobin said his ice cream company now permanently employs 108 persons and with the new dairy line 16 persons have been employed thus far. Balgobin feels though that a lot of assistance is needed from the Government to  promote the consumption of local milk and suggested that it consider a national advertising campaign to educate  the population on how to handle fresh milk. “Our Caricom partner, Barbados is 80% self sufficient in fluid milk and Jamaica has already reached in the region of 25% self sufficiency, with the model they implemented two years ago. We in Trinidad and Tobago only have 10% self sufficiency,” he said. Their dairy industries thrive, he said, because they have taken the bold step to increase the tariff on powdered milk; in Barbados the tariff is 150% and Jamaica has phased in their tariff with an initial increase to 50%.

In TT, the  tariff is 5%, he said, adding, “If this ensures real growth, why should we not adopt a similar stance?”  It is important to realise that GDP in agriculture in 2002/2001 was  4% GDP, out of that 2% was estimated to come from the declining dairy industry, he said, noting that a dynamic dairy industry could add significantly to GDP. Balgobin said his main marketing strategy focuses on taste. He said there is already massive promotion underway of the dairy products which includes fresh pastuerised milk, flavoured milk drinks and yogurt. He also said a 2% fresh pastuerised milk will soon be launched especially for persons who are diet conscious. As for market projections, he said “by the end of the first year 10% of the market share should be in fluid milk and by the end of the second year  20% market.” “I feel confident that I will do exceedingly well because of the nutritional value and the actual taste of the dairy products.”