'Jah Fire' is nuts over almonds

Karen Sudu, Gleaner Writer

BOG WALK, St Catherine:

EVER SINCE he was growing up on Greenwood Estate in St Mary, Clive 'Jah Fire' Williams discerned that there was something unique about almonds.

So, when it became an essential part of his diet, the desire to explore the potential of the nuts took root in his mind.

"At school, we eat almond for break, almond for lunch, 'cause sometime we go school without lunch money. So from them time I find almond to be something that is really great, so I knew I had to push on further with the nuts," he told The Gleaner, as he scooped a handful of the almonds displayed on his stall.

But it was not until 2005, two years after he moved to Bog Walk, that the Oracabessa Secondary graduate was able to delve fully into the intricacies of the products.

"You can make almond juice, almond porridge. You can make almond cake, some people call it drops, and also make oil with almond," he said.

Interestingly, the 45-year-old father of five prepares and sells his products at his shop, 'Jah Fire Creation Kitchen', built - not surprisingly - under an almond tree, near the town of Bog Walk.

"Getting the almond together, drying them in the sun, always attract people who pass by and see them. So when I prepare the almond nuts, and they see the nuts and they get a taste of it, and the almond drops and so on, they say, 'But it taste nice,'" an excited Williams recounted.

"I use the nuts, sugar, ginger and a little touch of salt to make the drops, depending on the colour of the sugar, because you know say sometime the sugar darker than other times, then the drops will look a little dark or a little lighter," Williams explained.

Wooed by the taste, both students and adults, like Lavern Harris, continue to support his business.

"From I found out about the almond drops, I always buy it because it tastes really nice," she said, smiling.

Students can purchase drops for $30, while adults pay $50 for a packet.

"I also sell a pound of the nuts itself for $1,000. I can go on the street with almond, just like peanut and cashew, and sell them, tie them in $50 wraps, $100 wraps, there is great potential for the business," outlined Williams, who cultivates a variety of crops on land he inherited from his father in Bower's Wood, in the parish.

Williams left his mother in St Mary at age 19 to live with his sister in Papine, St Andrew. While there, he was trained as a mechanic, but did not find much success.

Wants to set up factory

While he wants to continue farming, he has big dreams of venturing into producing almond products on a large scale, but he lacks the financial backing to embark on his mission.

"I want to set up a factory, get the almond together, 'cause there is lots of almond in Jamaica. I want to employ even seven persons, you can get great money out of almond products, but I just need the support," expressed the childhood friend of renowned Jamaican artiste, Capleton.

Cognisant of the viability of nuts, Williams says the Jamaican Government should examine the possibility of future investment.

"Almond is something just like peanut and cashew. They tin cashew and peanut and sell it in supermarket and all over, so they can tin almond just the same and sell it, and even export it just like cashew and peanut," he said. "Almond is great!"