Rainforest now has 'Lobster on the Go'
Published:Sunday | February 9, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU
Jamaican rum and Blue Mountain Coffee are staple products at the island's airports. Add another item to the list, and that is lobster caught in Jamaican waters off the shores of Pedro Cays by local fishermen.
The region's largest seafood distributors, Rainforest Seafoods, now has a kiosk at the Sangster International Airport called 'Lobster on the Go'.
Opened three weeks ago, the Artsmith Interiors designed kiosk is strategically positioned around a column in the departure lounge at the airport.
Within days of opening, the eight-foot live lobster tanks, curved on both ends, had become a tourist attraction.
"Our lobster comes in fresh every day," boasted Rainforest Seafoods' general manager, Ernie Grant. He added that the offering was another souvenir for Jamaicans missing home, or the visitor who comes to the island, tastes the country's spiny lobsters in the hotels and restaurants and wants to take home a taste of Jamaica.
Grant said his organisation was encouraged to make this unprecedented move by chief commercial officer at MBJ Airports Limited, Elizabeth Scotton.
No other airport in the Caribbean offers anything like this. However, in certain parts of Canada and the United States visitors have access to purchasing lobsters on their way out.
TIMING WAS RIGHT
According to Grant, the timing was right for Rainforest, owing to the thrust it was pushing in the export market for Jamaican lobster.
"Depending on our success we may expand to other countries," he told Sunday Business.
With lobster being seasonal, the kiosk will close for three months during the season, "to conform with the rules and regulations in terms of the local fisheries authority," said Grant.
However, the company has not discarded the idea of offering other 'travel with' seafood products during the lobster closed season.
"The importance of not selling lobster during the closed season is to send a message that Rainforest supports the preservation of our natural resources," explained the company's public relations associate, Bethany Young.
Young said the lobsters are flashed frozen (cleaned and placed in a blast freezer, packaged and then placed in skin-pack trays).
"We give you an insulated bag that allows it to remain frozen for up to six hours," the marketing specialist said.
The packaging, which was designed by local graphic artist, Carlos Robinson of Advantedge Design is physically done at the Rainforest plant at 67 Slipe Road, Kingston.
In the 21 days that it has commenced operation in the airport, the company says the response has been extremely encouraging. "Those who stop want samplings, and they also want condiments added to the package," said sales clerk, Shamtoya Barrett.
According to her, 'Lobster to Go' cannot be missed in the airport because of its prominent features of spiny lobster props, designed by renowned interior designer, Katrin May.
Mixed with elements of Jamaican condiments such as lime and Scotch bonnet pepper, imagery of where the lobster comes from, lighting and signage that make it appealing, she said the kiosk attracts many persons, particularly children because of the bright blue tanks.