Embracing change amid COVID-19

—Agro-processor Marcia Gonzales sees benefit in re-adjusting

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, June 10, 2020

Owner of Marcia’s Products, Marcia Gonzales is an agro-processor for more than six years. The small business owner who changed her usual business routine to continue working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The biggest adjustment was shifting most of her transactions to earlier in the day.  Gonzales explained that due to the curfews she now makes morning appointments to purchase her labels and raw material rather than in the afternoons as was done before.

“I always look for new ways to enhance my products and improve my business; I am always trying to do better,” she noted.

Gonzales has been manufacturing local produce, such as cassava bread, cassareep, fareen, tapioca, pineapple jam, starch, and coconut oil for over six years.

She explained that despite the pandemic, she is lucky to have been able to distribute her supplies to some supermarkets.

“My business supplies quite a few supermarkets, I have supplied the Guyana Shop, all the Bounty Supermarkets, DSL and Cross cutters along with two small supermarkets located at Soesdyke.”

Given the current situation in the country, she assured that all health precautions are observed in her business operations.

“I am adhering to all the necessary health precautions, such as washing utensils and ingredients and cleaning all surface regularly. I have one part-time worker who would come every two weeks to peel cassava and I would ensure daily we stay safe by adhering to health guidelines whilst working,” she said.

To ensure she is ready to hit the ground running after the pandemic, Gonzales said she is also using this time to experiment with ways to make her labelling more attractive, improve on the packaging to allow for longer shelf life.”

Additionally, the agro-processor shared that she will also be “adding a variety of tastes to my products to attract more customers.”