Beaches Sandy Bay General Manager, Howard Spittle (left), presents a certificate of appreciation to Esmeralda Bingham, one of 30 farmers honoured by the Sandals Group at a special dinner held at the resort on Thursday, April 29. - contributed

In showing its appreciation for the high quality and consistency of agricultural products it gets from local farmers, the Sandals chain of resorts last Thursday honoured several farmers and suppliers at its Beaches Sandy Bay resort.

General manager of the hotel, Howard Spittle, commended the farmers for their efforts in maintaining the consistently high quality of produce delivered to the chain of hotels.

Mr. Spittle, in his address to the farmers who journeyed from Manchester, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland and Hanover to attend the function, declared that the link with local farmers "holds great promise".

In explaining the reason behind the move to purchase most of its fruits and vegetables for use in its hotels locally, he noted that "here in Jamaica farming is still the livelihood of thousands of rural families and as visible and active corporate citizens we at Sandals and Beaches resorts are aware that our contribution to the agricultural sector represents the possibilities of real prosperity for rural families".

According to the Beaches general manager, the partnership with the local agricultural sector is "economically feasible and it is socially the right thing to do." Furthermore Mr. Spittle pointed out that "it is not like we are buying inferior stuff, we are actually buying home grown produce".

The trade between the Sandals hotels and farmers is worth an estimated $500 million annually.