?The money generated among local merchants in the cottage industry is just "a few million dollars", says President of the T&T Manufacturers Association Dr Rolph Balgobin. However, he said the industry had tremendous potential to grow but they lacked the proper avenue to market.
He said, "Our shops and stores do not pick up these products; they rather import. Also, these vendors are not set up to do mass production. Sometimes they may get an order but cannot scale up to meet the order."
Buying local ensures your money goes directly to the talented artisan who made the product. There has been the monthly hosting of South Market, UpMarket, and the San Antonio Green Market in Santa Cruz which give vendors and artisans the opportunity to showcase locally-made food, produce, craft and other items.
Balgobin said, "The man who is settling to sell on a table first needs to dream. He needs to have an environment that encourages him to take risks and buy raw materials."
He said one of the biggest risks in the industry was packaging. "The Trinidad market is sophisticated now, so you can't package something in an inferior way."
President of the San Fernando Business Association Daphne Bartlett has praised organisers of South Market, which brings together scores of south artisans. However, she said she had not heard any of her friends or family talk about the south event, which started a year ago, even though she was a born and bred San Fernandian.
She said, "I would be one to support that because I like to buy local stuff. I always say we are trying to diversify the economy and save foreign exchange and we say buy local...we have people who produce stuff of a very good standard.
"It is a wonderful idea to buy local but you have to advertise and let people know that it's there so they will go and patronise."
Next week, we speak to founder of South Market, Siljan Ramphal, 31.