Local handicraft companies to benefit from CGSSP
David Vital
Market Development Officer: Communications – manages DEXIA’s public relations, corporate communications and produces its newsletter and radio programme. Has been Officer In Charge of the Market Support Services Department for the past 13 months. . (View all articles by David Vital)
Opportunity for Companies in North American and European markets
The Caribbean Export / Trade Facilitation Office of Canada-sponsored project is designed to assist regional craft enterprises with product development and access to the Canadian and international markets. Barbados, Haiti and Jamaica are the other islands participating in the programme. Caribbean Creative and the Waitukubuli Kalinago Arts and Craft Association (WKACS) have been selected to represent Dominica. Caribbean Creative specializes in the creation of furniture and other household items from driftwood and bamboo while the WKACA specializes in the production of weaved product from indigenous plant material.
The product development phase of the Dominica leg of the programme was officially launched here on January 28th 2008. Canadian designer and craft consultant, Patty Johnson informed stakeholders that she would be working along with both Caribbean Creative and the WKACA over the next seven months to design and develop a variety of innovative products. In fact, Johnson met with both Caribbean Creative and the members of the WKACA in the Carib Territory for two days of intense work sessions to jump-start the process. Johnson is expected to shuttle back and forth between Canada and the islands in the ensuing months to complete the assignment.
To secure buy-in from retailers very early in the project, Johnson indicated that a few craft pieces from the existing collections of the participating enterprises will be showcased at the Interior Design Show in Toronto
Canada from
February 21st – 24th.
However the market access phase of the project will kick off in earnest
sometime in the late summer. Dominica’s craft along with pieces from Barbados,
Haiti and Jamaica will be launched as a collective during a
trade mission to Canada
in August. The opportunity will also be
used to showcase the collection at the Canadian Gift & Tableware
Association Trade Show.
“There is a real opportunity for companies and persons like you to take advantage of consumer interests in the North American and European markets” Johnson told the artisans. She noted that consumer interests at the moment are all about the local, ecological, handmade and regionally produced products. That consumer niche is high end and represents the top 2% of the craft market. This is “perfect for producers like you” she said, “because you are making things by hand, you can focus on quality and you can offer something unique.”
Meanwhile, David Vital, Head of the Market Support Services Department (Ag.) at DEXIA, in welcoming the CGSSP to Dominica said the intervention was “timely and critical for the continued development and advancement of the craft sector in Dominica.” He encouraged the participants to make maximum use of the programme and take advantage of the greater access to the Canadian craft market that the project promises to deliver.
Vital concluded, “I have every confidence that both collections –i.e the Kalinago Craft Collection and Caribbean Creative Collection will do exceptionally well.”
The Caribbean Export / Trade Facilitation Office of Canada-sponsored project is designed to assist regional craft enterprises with product development and access to the Canadian and international markets. Barbados, Haiti and Jamaica are the other islands participating in the programme. Caribbean Creative and the Waitukubuli Kalinago Arts and Craft Association (WKACS) have been selected to represent Dominica. Caribbean Creative specializes in the creation of furniture and other household items from driftwood and bamboo while the WKACA specializes in the production of weaved product from indigenous plant material.
The product development phase of the Dominica leg of the programme was officially launched here on January 28th 2008. Canadian designer and craft consultant, Patty Johnson informed stakeholders that she would be working along with both Caribbean Creative and the WKACA over the next seven months to design and develop a variety of innovative products. In fact, Johnson met with both Caribbean Creative and the members of the WKACA in the Carib Territory for two days of intense work sessions to jump-start the process. Johnson is expected to shuttle back and forth between Canada and the islands in the ensuing months to complete the assignment.
To secure buy-in from retailers very early in the project, Johnson indicated that a few craft pieces from the existing collections of the participating enterprises will be showcased at the Interior Design Show in Toronto
Canada from
February 21st – 24th.
However the market access phase of the project will kick off in earnest
sometime in the late summer. Dominica’s craft along with pieces from Barbados,
Haiti and Jamaica will be launched as a collective during a
trade mission to Canada
in August. The opportunity will also be
used to showcase the collection at the Canadian Gift & Tableware
Association Trade Show.
“There is a real opportunity for companies and persons like you to take advantage of consumer interests in the North American and European markets” Johnson told the artisans. She noted that consumer interests at the moment are all about the local, ecological, handmade and regionally produced products. That consumer niche is high end and represents the top 2% of the craft market. This is “perfect for producers like you” she said, “because you are making things by hand, you can focus on quality and you can offer something unique.”
Meanwhile, David Vital, Head of the Market Support Services Department (Ag.) at DEXIA, in welcoming the CGSSP to Dominica said the intervention was “timely and critical for the continued development and advancement of the craft sector in Dominica.” He encouraged the participants to make maximum use of the programme and take advantage of the greater access to the Canadian craft market that the project promises to deliver.
Vital concluded, “I have every confidence that both collections –i.e the Kalinago Craft Collection and Caribbean Creative Collection will do exceptionally well.”
