Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, industry leaders, family and friends turned out yesterday for the funeral of the Flavorite CEO & YUMA co-founder Stefan Monteil.
The family and friends of Monteil remembered his ability to lead and pioneer while being accessible to anyone who wanted his counsel.
Delivering the eulogy, director of YUMA, Sean Burkett remembered Monteil as someone who diverged from conventional thinking and challenged the status quo.
Commenting on his business acumen, Burkett said: “Stefan believed that marketing was more than just putting on a T-shirt and drinking the most alcohol. It was about understanding the deepest desires, wants and needs of people and how one can tap into that through the products he managed.”
Burkett also remembered Monteil’s ability to inspire and empower others to reach greater heights. He expressed: “One thing we know for sure, is (not) his larger than life attitude and boundless confidence that was unmatched. (But) when he was around us, we believed that anything was possible.”
Also commenting on Monteil’s impact on the industry was the Executive Creative Director of the Lost Tribe, Valmiki Maharaj.
“I think he is a man who believed in youth, he’s a man that believed in the thought and the thought process of younger people in the industry—and he’s a man that saw a future,” said Maharaj.
Maharaj said that Monteil was a true visionary and a very compassionate leader in the Carnival industry. He continued: “YUMA has been in this business for so many years. They have done so much with younger people, for younger people that I feel that he saw change before the change happened. He saw the possibility of change.”
Maharaj said that in Monteil, the industry has “lost a great one” and “he will always be remembered.”