Go Lean…Caribbean

Go Lean Commentary

Supply and Demand …

These are the bedrock principles of economic decision-making. Or should be …

… but when it comes to Caribbean economics, the rules seem to be different … 🙁

• There is demand for food supplies for Caribbean foreign visitors
• The supply to feed foreign visitors are also sourced from foreign originators.

In fact, as reported in this one article in November 2010, there is a sophisticated supply chain eco-system for just Carnival Cruise Lines – responsible for 8 to 9 million annual unique Caribbean visitors, per 2012. See the details of that article here:

Title: Amazing Cruise Food Facts
Ever wondered just how much food and drink is consumed on an average cruise? … Here are some amazing cruise food facts, according to the UK-based industry trade journal Cruise International.

• Every day 2,550 fresh eggs are consumed by Holland America’s Eurodam, 2,100 guests and 900 crew.
• A whole county in Iowa raises all its cattle for sale to Carnival Cruise Lines.
• On board Carnival Dream, passengers eat of 28,730 shrimp every week.
• 6,200 cocktails and 15,000 coffees are drunk on Costa ships every week.
• On board MSC Fantasia class ships, 2,000 different recipes are used on a seven-day cruise.
• 280 bottles of free champagne, 10lbs of caviar and 120lbs of lobster are devoured on  Seabourn ships (Legend/Pride/Spirit) over seven nights.
• On an average P&O Ventura 14-day cruise, 3,096 passengers and 1,200 crew will eat some 171,840 main meals.
• During an eight-night cruise on board Fred. Olsen’s Boudicca, 630 litres of ice cream will be eaten.
• On a typical 10-day cruise, the shopping list for Crystal Symphony includes over 60 tonnes of food-stuffs to be purchased and delivered to dock in the few hours on turnaround day.

It is not known exactly how much Spam was consumed by passengers on the stranded Carnival Splendor in November 2010; [it had to be towed to its San Diego-California home base after engines caught fire off the Mexican Rivera coast].

A whole county in Iowa? (This was reported back in 2010 reflecting activity for the years leading up to 2010, but it does give some insights as to scope of the operation). Iowa is part of the American Midwest region – the bread basket of America:

Iowa 101 

• There are 99 counties in the U.S. state of Iowa.
• Iowa Population: 3,156,145 (2,018)
• Iowa’s main conventional agricultural commodities are hogs, corn, soybeans, oats, cattle, eggs, and dairy products. Iowa is the nation’s largest producer of ethanol and corn and some years is the largest grower of soybeans. In 2008, the 92,600 farms in Iowa produced 19% of the nation’s corn, 17% of the soybeans, 30% of the hogs, and 14% of the eggs.^[131]

Midwest 101
Sometimes called “the breadbasket of America” the [American] Midwest serves as a center for grain production, particularly wheat, corn and soybeans.^[3] …

In 1839 the Northeastern state of New York became the country’s leading dairy producer, a position it held until overtaken by Iowa in 1890. It wasn’t long after that Wisconsin emerged as the leading dairy producer.^[5]

Beef and pork processing have long been important Midwestern industries. Chicago and Kansas City served as stockyards and processing centers of the beef trade and Cincinnati, nicknamed ‘Porkopolis’, was once the largest pork-producing city in the world.^[6] Iowa is the center of pork production in the U.S.^{[citation needed]} Meats were preserved by curing as in corned beef, sugar-cured ham and bacon, or smoked. – Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_the_Midwestern_United_States#Background retrieved December 28, 2019.

That was 2010; what is the status quo now? How does Carnival provision their beef needs today, as we approach 2020?

Posted September 18, 2010
… I understand that Carnival has cut a deal with an new meat supplier. I read that last April [2010], Carnival began using J&B Foods of Albertville, Minnesota as their meat supplier.

I didn’t know this until a couple of weeks ago A friend told me he is a Senior Butcher for the company and was he said that Carnival contract had increased their production over 30%. It’s a good company and they do a good job with meat. – Source: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1218077-what-was-your-experience-with-carnival-meat-in-the-mdr/

J&B Group
Even though sourcing all the beef from an entire county was impressive, enacting a supply contract with J&B Foods is even more so. See the corporate profile in the Appendix below and the VIDEO here:

VIDEO – J&B Group – Discover our capabilities – https://youtu.be/6Xkng_4MTQI

J&B Foods
From food service and retail to wholesale and third party logistics, discover what J&B Group can do for you!

• Category: People & Blogs

Do you see the opportunity here, in supplying the demand for beef for the cruise ships traversing the Caribbean?

If one cruise line is willing to enact supply agreements that engage a whole region (Iowa), surely Caribbean stakeholders can deploy the necessary cattle operations (ranching, slaughter, butchering, warehousing and distribution) to satisfy the existing demand for a Caribbean cruise eco-system. We have one primary advantage that cannot be ignored:

Location, location and location.

Raising cattle is not “Rocket Science” – we can do it here! With the ability to transform one or more BIG member-states – Belize, Cuba, Guyana, and/or Suriname – into the region’s bread baskets, we can scale-up beef productions with minimal time, talent and treasures to supply the cruise industry’s demand; (and our own demand-supply needs).

If we cannot “have all of the pie, then maybe just some slices”.

This is how Industrial Reboots work!

This is the continuation of this teaching series for December 2019 from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean. As we present a series every month, this entry is commentary 3 of 5 considering Food Security for the Caribbean. The goal is first to Feed Ourselves after which we should foster Trade to an export market. Servicing the cruise industry is within this Trade strategy. Other Food Supply considerations are presented in  this series; see the full series catalog here:

1. Food Security – Bread Baskets on Land and Sea
2. Food Security – Temperate Foods in the Tropics
3. Food Security – Opportunity: 1 American County in Iowa raises all Beef for a Cruise Line
4. Food Security – FTAA: A Lesson in History
5. Food Security – Big Chicken

The 2013 Go Lean book presents a roadmap – an economic plan – to introduce and implement a regional solution – the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) – to ensure Food Security. The book posits that we can satisfy the “supply and demand” dynamics. On the Supply-side, we can put the implementations in place to have our own bread baskets … finally. Among the 30 participating member-states there are some that are more suited – lower opportunity costs – to ramp-up an agri-business eco-system. The strategy is to make the regional investments there, in one or several of those states.

On the Demand-side, there is the tactic of collective bargaining. This activity is already planned in the quest to reform and transform the cruise tourism industry. This was related in a previous Go Lean blog-commentary; see an excerpt here:

Some of the most popular cruise destinations include the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Saint Martin. Alone, these port cities/member states cannot effect change on this cruise line industry. But together, as one unified front, the chances for success improves exponentially. The unified front is the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The term Union is more than a coincidence; it was branded as such by design. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU.

The vision of this integration movement is for the region to function as a Single Market. The quotation from the Go Lean book continues in advocating that the Caribbean member-states (independent & dependent) lean-in to this plan for confederacy, convention and collaboration. This is Collective Bargaining 101.

This is a wise yet simple plan: Make the Caribbean Cruise industry an offer they cannot refuse …

… the same or better quality for beef at a lower price (with minimal transport or logistical expenses).

As related in the first commentary in this series, the following organizational deployments make this business plan possible:

• Food Cooperatives
• Group Purchasing Organizations (GPO)
• Refrigerated Warehouse Condominiums

Organizational deployments are among the 370 pages of the roadmap, the turn-by-turn directions in the Go Lean book, on how to reform and transform the economic, security and governing engines for the Caribbean region and their member-states. This roadmap includes the new community ethos that must be adopted; plus the executions of new strategies, tactics, and implementations to deliver on this quest to reboot our industrial landscape and Feed Ourselves. In fact, this is the actual title of one advocacy in the Go Lean book. Consider the specific plans, excerpts and headlines here from Page 193, entitled:

10 Ways to Impact Cruise Tourism

Raising cattle is not “Rocket Science” – we can do it here! What an opportunity? We can reform and transform our agricultural deliveries so as to better Feed Ourselves with lower costs and greater variety in our Food Supply. Then, we get to also improve our pocketbooks by trading foodstuffs with our Cruise Line business partners.

The issues in reforming and transforming our interactions with our Cruise Line business partners have been addressed in many previous blog-commentaries; consider this list of sample entries:

Our intent – as communicated in the outset of the Go Lean book – is simple yet providential (Page 4):

The CU should better provide for the region’s basic needs (food, clothing, energy and shelter), and then be in position to help supply the rest of the world.

Tourism is a great business model; we get to generate a lot of foreign currency. But then, we “stupidly” turn around to give it away for products and commodities that we can/should really fulfill ourselves.

Not wise!

Let’s wisen up. Let’s lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap … and Feed Ourselves and our guest. This is how we make our Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

About the Book
The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

• Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
• Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
• Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Who We Are
The movement behind the Go Lean book – a non-partisan, apolitical, religiously-neutral Community Development Foundation chartered for the purpose of empowering and re-booting economic engines – stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14):

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxx.   Whereas the effects of globalization can be felt in every aspect of Caribbean life, from the acquisition of food and clothing, to the ubiquity of ICT, the region cannot only consume, it is imperative that our lands also produce and add to the international community, even if doing so requires some sacrifice and subsidy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————-

Appendix – J&B Group: Foodservice Offerings

Quality starts at the center of your plate and J&B Group is the premier cold chain provider that can bring you the quality protein solutions you need, along with unparalleled customer service.

Serving up the best in protein solutions
In today’s hyper-complex foodservice world, you need a protein partner that can maximize your competitive advantages – from your kitchen to your menu to your bottom line. Turn to J&B Foodservice and our “5S Guarantee” to help solve your critical business challenges.

Buying Power
Our expert protein industry purchasing team understands the markets and successfully navigates fluctuations to bring you the highest value at the most competitive cost possible. They leverage over one hundred years of J&B buying experience to ensure a supply chain that brings excellent value and service to every one of our valued customers. Collaborating with our customers to understand their needs, our team provides recommendations and solutions to an ever changing global protein supply chain.

Manufacturing
J&B has a mission to be an innovative leader in protein produced goods, providing exceptional value in quality, cost, and service.

Cold Storage
J&B’s warehouse capabilities include blast freezing, order picking, speed tempering and re-stacking/re-palletizing. We guarantee temperature consistency, proper product handling with detailed documentation and reporting with superior cleanliness and secure facility.

Our Products
J&B Foodservice sells an extensive portfolio of foodservice proteins throughout the United States to both large restaurant chains as well as independent operators. We produce a wide variety of proteins, such as portion cut steaks, fresh and frozen portioned and bulk ground beef, injected sub-primals, and Thin Sliced Meats. We also offer a wide variety of raw material grades and brands to meet our customer’s quality and pricing needs.

Our Facilities

Source: Retrieved December 28, 2019 from: https://www.jbgroup.com/business-unit/foodservice/