by Marlon Madden
While many small business owners were struggling to make ends meet last year following the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, one operator in the sauces and condiments department was still able to keep his head above water.
And as he gathers momentum, he has his eyes set on getting his products into every home across the island, Kemar Husbands, 25, is the proud owner of Husbandz, a three-year-old company that specializes in a variety of BBQ sauces.
He told Today’s BUSINESS that last year was a difficult one for him when the pandemic started, but he quickly realised the demand for his product remained strong. This, he attributed to the fact that people were cooking more while at home and the fact that his sauces were simply a hit.
“Last year it was tough, but because people were home they were using more BBQ sauce compared to if they would be at work and only use it when they get home from work.
But being home all the time you would cook more and therefore more sauces would be used. So in a way it wasn’t bad because I still had a lot of sales,” he said.
It was a simple instruction from one of his uncles some three years ago,
that led the St Thomas resident to start selling his first product that has been slowly capturing the hearts and taste
buds of residents.
“My uncle would always tell me ‘instead of being home doing nothing, get up and do something; cook some food, put on a pot’,” he recalled. It did not take him long to warm up to the idea.
And before you knew it, Husbands got “accustomed” to getting up and “putting something on the stove” so that by the time his uncle returned home from work he would be greeted with a hot meal.
“So that is what really started me into the love of cooking,” said the Coleridge and Parry Secondary school graduate. After studying home economics in secondary school, Husbands went on to do a diploma course in catering at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute
of Technology (SJPI) and shortly afterwards he went on to work with a local prominent chef.
“I would always make my own BBQ sauce every time I was doing the Asian buffet at work. So everyone was telling me ‘your BBQ sauce is very nice’.
Then I started to tell myself ‘if everybody at work loves my BBQ sauce why not try to start something on my own?’ “So I played around with the logo, then I got up one day and went to the [label printing company] and took my label idea and they finished creating it for me. From there I just started to experiment,” he recalled.
He started with his original Husbandz BBQ sauce, before adding the spicy BBQ, sweet and sour and pineapple sweet and sour sauces.
While Husbands managed to get his products into one Baxters’ Road supermarket, he said his main challenge was getting more people to learn about his product and big retailers to take it up.
In fact, he told Today’s BUSINESS that his wish was for policymakers to make it easier for local producers to get their items on to supermarket shelves and into more retail stores in order to cut down on the level of imports and foreign exchange expenditure.
“I would say getting help from the supermarkets and certain businesses to push the business has been my main challenge.
“Everyone say you should become an entrepreneur but when you become an entrepreneur then it is still hard to get support from the bigger organizations. That is my biggest challenge,” he added.
Most of his sales come from individuals and other entrepreneurs who operate cook shops and restaurants.
Pointing out that he quickly learned a lot about the sauce business and had to make several tweaks over the years, Husbands said he received a lot of support and encouragement from his fiancé and his family.
His biggest motivation, though, comes from his customers. “When someone can come and tell you that your sauce is really good, or ‘I bought a half gallon from you yesterday and it is all gone already today’ or ‘I have to hide it from my kids’. That kind of stuff is what makes me continue with my drive,” he said.
The certified chef already has his sights set on expanding his offerings, noting that he was considering introducing an Alfredo sauce.
He is also considering putting his chef skills to greater use by opening his own cook shop. However, he said those were plans at this stage.
With a growing need for his addictive original BBQ sauce, Husbands said his immediate plan was to acquire a container from which to operate so he could ramp up his production.
However, he said financing remains a challenge for him at this point. “What is next for me is to get the container and then try to supply a few more supermarkets that are willing to give me the chance,” he said.
Husbands has also started to raise rabbits to sell as pets. This side of his business started just over a month ago.
He said it was his love for the furry animals that he developed over the years after having a couple of them as pets that prompted him to get more and this time around raise them for selling.
The entrepreneur said his advice to other start-up operators and potential entrepreneurs is simply “never give up”. “It is not going to be easy to get the word out there and get people to know about your business. It is not an easy task.
When there are days when you feel down just remember never give up. It will not happen in a day or two, but eventually you will get to the point you want to be,” said Husbands.
marlonmadden@barbdostoday.bb
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