Trinidad economy still attractive

Since the recession’s announcement last December, steel company Arcelor Mittal closed down its plants, leaving over 600 workers unemployed. Workers have since been sent home from WASA, GISL, NGC, and even Carib Brewery. On Monday, the Central Statistical Office released a Labour Force Bulletin for the first Quarter 2016 - 5000 fewer people were employed then than during the same period last year. In spite of all of these seemingly dire statistics, Prestige Holdings Ltd was confident enough to introduce a new foreign coffee brand into a market already serviced by Rituals Coffee House and other small coffee buinesses. Is Prestige Holdings Ltd seeing something that the nation isn’t? Prestige Holdings Ltd CEO, Charles Pashley, acknowledged the existence of a recession, but wrote it off as one of the many challenges that businesses have to face. “Business challenges are to be expected, but as a company we have to look at the long term. Not five years from now, ten years from now, 15 years from now, but the long term...Globally, the specialty coffee market continues to grow…the coffee industry will continue to grow. We will be part of that growth trend as it relates to the coffee house experience and be part of the growth of the industry in Trinidad and Tobago.” Chairman of Prestige Holdings Ltd, Cristian Mouttet, said that the “Trinidad and Tobago economy, in the context of the English speaking Caribbean, still remains a very attractive economy. If you look into the region and you look at all the markets in the English speaking Caribbean region, Trinidad and Tobago remains if not the most attractive, certainly an extremely attractive market to do business in.” Vice President of Starbucks Latin and America and the Caribbean, Ricardo Rico, echoed Mouttet’s optimism for his Starbucks’ success within an economy in recession.

“When you think about the Starbucks experience, it is really about providing a place where people can relax, it is to be part of people’s daily routine. Regardless of the economy, that is a global need. Alongside the know-how of Prestige Holdings of the local market and the learnings we have globally, we are sure we are going to succeed in this environment.” Mouttet rejected a reporter’s accusation that an economy dominated by foreign brands is doomed. He said that his company’s business model has never been based on the importation of finished goods and services.

Prestige instead imports franchises that contribute to the local economy through the utilisation of local goods to make their products, eg KFC sources nearly all of its chicken locally and Subway purchases all of its bread, and many of its vegetables and fruits on the local market.

Prestige also contributes to the economy through employing around 3,500 employees across its five international brands. The company has complained before, however, about its inability to retain a reliable labour force, blaming poor customer service at their various restaurants on their labour shortage.

They went as far as to recommend a gradual reduction in the CEPEP programme so that CEPEP workers could be funneled into their companies and save the government up to $1b a year. When pressed by reporters for what a starting salary at Starbucks’ stores would look like, Pashley responded that Starbucks’ wages are “competitive.” Last year, Pashley reportedly said that KFC workers were paid between $16 and $20 per hour.

While he did not go into much detail, Pashley said that the company is always evolving in their approach to recruitment and retention of labour. In staffing its first store, two team of newly hired employees – called “partners” – were sent to Orlando and the Bahamas for training for as long as three months.

Pashley said that new approaches to training staff would be introduced not only for Starbucks but for all Prestige brands, so customers should expect improvement in customer service in months to come.

Employees would be required as part of their job description to volunteer time at the Hope Centre home for children.

None of this comes without a price tag, and Prestige executives opted to not disclose any figures, referring to the cost as a “significant investment over time.” Perhaps onlookers and participants in the economy could draw hope about the future of the nation’s economic future from Prestige’s optimism about reaping a return on their investment in years to come.