Creating a buzz
─ Young agro-processor aims to create honey-based product line
DPI, Guyana, Monday, September 16, 2019
“If opportunity does not knock, build a door,” is a mantra that 21-year-old Kelshine Griffith has lived by since deciding to become her own boss.
Earlier this year, the Department of Public Information (DPI) spoke to the game-changer, while she was one of the many Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) students, who were showcasing their products after completing an agro-processing course offered by the Youth Empowerment Unit.
Now, within just seven months, Kelshine has done it again and finished an apiculture course at the Madewini Training Centre. With this new skill added to her repertoire, she intends to take her agro-processing a notch up.
“The knowledge I gained from the apiculture training programme, will go hand in hand with my agro-processing skills and that was my reason for joining this course,” she told DPI.
Twenty-one-year-old Kelshine Griffith who is making waves with her attractively packaged ‘Sweet Potato Cake Mix’
Aside from plans to produce commercial honey, Kelshine has also set her sights on creating several by-products using honey as the main ingredient such as lip balms, soaps and even candles. This, she confidently said, will surely “create a buzz”.
The enterprising young woman has already registered her business ‘Shines Agri Manufacturing‘ and is making waves with her attractively packaged ‘Sweet Potato Cake Mix’. “I have a product, a sweet potato mixture, 100% sweet potato. It is just like the Betty Crocker cake mix, you just need some water and oil to make this delicious cake,” she explained.
According to Kelshine, her Sweet Potato Cake Mix is available for sale but not yet on supermarket shelves “because I am still waiting for my manufacturing license and a place to operate. However, I am currently working from home.”
To sharpen her business acumen, in 2018 the budding entrepreneur participated in an Entrepreneurship and Work Readiness Course also organised by the Youth Empowerment Unit and the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations). She learnt the essentials of creating a business plan, selecting an appropriate business name, the art of labelling to attract buyers and marketing strategies.
Kelshine advises other youths to make good use of the opportunities being provided by the government for self-empowerment.