CaribWorldNews, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. July 20, 2009: Caribbean Food Delight patties, which were recently at the center of a storm of controversy following comments by the head of the Jamaica Manufacturers Association, will no longer be available in Jamaica. Head of the company, Vincent HoSang, on Sunday told Caribbean Lifestyle TV that his products have been dropped by the distributor on the island.
His disclosure comes on the heels of a fire storm of controversy that erupted after head of the JMA, Omar Azan, lashed when he realized the PriceSmart store in Kingston was selling patties produced by HoSang`s Caribbean Food Delights (CFD) – perhaps the leading producer of Jamaican patties in the United States.
`We are a country that is known for our patties, we manufacture patties, yet companies in Jamaica are importing patties out of New York to sell here,` Azan complained the day of his re-election as head of the JMA. `I am going to be pressing (on this), because if we don`t put our foot down, we won`t have a country for our children to live in and enjoy.`
The comments created a backlash in the Jamaican Diaspora, which slammed Azan for not recognizing the efforts of HoSang, a fellow Jamaican, in supporting Jamaica through employment and through his many charitable endeavors. But HoSang said Sunday the decision by Price Mart, the Caribbean distributor to drop the product, had nothing to do with the comments by Azan or the media coverage, but simply was due to the fact that the patties were not selling as fast as the distributor had hoped.
The decision by Price Mart had been made prior to the controversy, HoSang said. He also revealed that there were no immediate plans to return to Jamaica with the product even though he admits that the publicity helped his company and that he`s a firm believer in the laws of free trade
. However, Hosang says he will continue to support Jamaican farmers through purchases of thyme and scotch bonnet peppers as well as the producers of jerk seasoning. This, said Hosang, helps create jobs for Jamaicans in his homeland, and adds to the 120 Caribbean nationals he currently employs at his New York plant. The entrepreneur, who started his business 31 years ago out of a small `fried chicken store,` said the product is however, now in the UK, Cayman Islands, the BVI, the USVI and Panama and will soon extend to other South American nations.