Boosting Guam-Palau supply chains took center stage during a Thursday showcase hosted by the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association and Guam Economic Development Authority.
Featured local businesses represent everything from food to textile, alcohol, skincare, jewelry, and more, and they were showcased to Palau business delegates at the GHRA membership meeting at Hyatt Regency Guam.
Melvin Tabilas, GEDA small business division manager, said the goal is to build export deals with local companies in Palau.
“We’re trying to open the international market for Guam companies [and] get our products out and bring potential buyers to Guam to engage with local business,” Tabilas told the Pacific Daily News.
GEDA and GHRA invited business delegates from Palau to Guam to connect with Guam businesses.
At the GHRA meeting on Thursday, they showcased 12 Guam businesses: Carabao Brewing, Bonita Baby, Obsessed, Sirena Soul Guam, Everything Guam, Local Jerk Guam, The Coconut Tree Company, Ichima Corporation, Green Turtle Inc., Denanche’ Guam, Asiga Corp, and Natural Being.
The visiting Palau business owners and representatives include:
- Edna Raymond, owner of GnZ Cafe
- Harllyn Iyool Basilio, who runs Baby Co. & Shop
- Keialla B. Masami, who owns Stay Salty Palau
- Milong Browny, who owns Long Beach Cafe
- JB Nagata, who runs Driftwood Bar & Cafe
- Eric and Zachery Whipps, who are the CEO and purchasing manager of Surangel and Sons.
GEDA and GHRA also drove them around Guam to visit different local brands and stores, according to Tabilas.
‘Great opportunity’
Eric Whipps said the Palau-based Surangel and Sons is interested in increasing its orders from Dinanche’, as well as starting a line with Latte Stone Cookies.
Whipps added that Surangel and Sons already works with PDC Wholesale, Pacific Grocers Guam, and other companies.
“Seeing all these different vendors is a great opportunity, and what GEDA has done for us this year [showed] us what’s available in the region,” Zachery Whipps said. “It’s nice to have all these products available regionally. We’re all part of Micronesia, so it’d be nice to source from our sister islands.”
Louise Gianan, owner of Obsessed, and Devin Santos, employee of Coconut Tree Company, said the showcase was a great opportunity to get into a larger market.
Gianan, whose company does organic and hypoallergenic baby clothing, was particularly excited to offer her product and potentially design a collection with local phrases, such as her items that read “Hu Guaiya Hao.”
She also hopes a supply chain between the two islands can be beneficial, since “the majority of their shipments go through Guam anyway.”
It was also an opportunity for businesses already involved in the international market to connect with regional partners.
Mihwa Kim, owner of Kingfisher Noni, which uses noni as its main ingredient in skincare items, soap, shampoo, juice, and tea, has sold products to Japan and Korea for the past eight years.
“I’ve been in business for 20 years, but I don’t often have chances like this to show my product,” Kim said. “I look at the people coming in, and 1763675886 Palau has a chance to see our product.”
Shipping challenges
Additionally, 95% of Palau’s goods are bought outside of the Oceania region, so Zachery Whipps hopes Palau could start buying more stuff closer to home and help create business ties and community bonds.
Economically, however, trading between islands is “not very beneficial,” Zachery Whipps added.
“Freights are a big issue shipping anything in and out of the region. The products are more expensive than what we were to buy off-island, but I think it’s very important to try to source stuff as locally as you can,” Zachery Whipps said.
Zachery Whipps said Surangel and Sons is looking at different freight forwarders, such as Triple B and CTSI, to do less container loads to fit the smaller quantities of what Palau would buy from Guam.
“We do full container loads of Coca Cola out of Guam, and we spoke to them, and they’re willing to put our product in their containers. If we can solve the issue with shipping, it would make sourcing products from Guam much easier,” he said.
Tabilas said GEDA is also looking into the shipping challenges and has started initial conversations with local shipping companies and the Port Authority of Guam to find ways to “lessen the barrier” for local businesses to engage in the regional market.
“We recognize it’s a barrier, but it’s the next thing GEDA is working at within the industry and with our stakeholders to figure out solutions, [especially] now we understand there is strong interest in Guam products,” Tabilas said.
Local ingredients
The showcase also included collaboration with Hyatt Regency’s kitchen staff. Lunch served at the meeting featured ingredients sourced from local businesses such as Kingfisher Noni, Green Turtle Coffee, and Dinanche’ Drizzle, according to executive chef Mirko Agostini.
Agostini told the PDN that he sourced ingredients from local businesses for Thursday’s lunch buffet.
He served Dinanche’ spices with a locally caught mahi mahi, Italian dressing made with noni juice source from Kingfisher Noni, and used coffee grounds from Green Turtle Coffee for Hyatt’s signature cheesecake, which also had “a coconut tree on top to finish with an element to say wow,” and as part of the sauce.
“If you put food in the middle of the table, you’re making collaboration, even for people who don’t know each other,” Agostini said. “Everybody is going to be happy when they have something to eat. That is elevation for all you want to do.”
This collaboration “opened the door,” according to Agostini, for local businesses to regular collaborate with Hyatt, setting a platform for local entrepreneurs and companies trying to develop themselves.
“If there are people coming from outside, then they want to try the best meat in Guam, not the best meat coming from outside of Guam,” Agostini said.
Hyatte general manager Sophia Chu Wigsten said the hotel will “definitely continue the conversation” to incorporate local businesses in the hotel’s buffet and banquet options after the feedback and reception from the guests at the meeting.
“We are always looking for opportunities to work with local vendors to promote and sell their products,” she said. “We’ve partnered with Ignite Juice to come up with a signature drink for Hyatt using their product, and we work with Carabao Brewing and different partners to do different things.”
