A group of 17 local food and beverage business owners in Guyana has successfully secured a stake in offshore catering services for ExxonMobil, marking a significant milestone for Guyanese involvement in the oil and gas industry. The businesses, which form the consortium, include well-known establishments such as Windjammer International Cuisine, Comfort Inn, Cafe Bellvana, Mother’s Kitchen, S & S Food Delite Halal Restaurant, Pyramid Restaurant & Pub, Country Spice Kitchen, and others.
Francine Samantha Baker, owner of Brown Sugar Catering, explained that the initiative began after an invitation from the Ministry of Natural Resources. She recalled the minister’s statement that the President wanted to address concerns that while oil production was booming in Guyana, the local population wasn’t feeling its benefits. The President suggested forming a catering consortium to help local businesses collaborate and compete with larger companies in the industry.
The consortium originally had over 80 members but eventually narrowed down to 17 businesses committed to taking on the challenges. One significant hurdle was the stringent offshore catering requirements, which no single local company could meet alone. Ramdeo Kumar, owner of Beacon Cafe, noted that local businesses were not individually qualified due to the complexity and scale of offshore operations.
To overcome this, the group purchased a 20% stake in Newrest, a French company already contracted to provide catering services for ExxonMobil’s offshore operations. Though the consortium is not involved in the day-to-day management, they have representatives on Newrest’s board of directors, which provides valuable industry insight and decision-making influence.
Kumar highlighted the financial scale of such a project, explaining that it would require billions of dollars, along with architecture, equipment, and skilled personnel to execute. This partnership with Newrest also opens up opportunities for local workforce development, as the consortium plans to collaborate with Newrest to provide world-class training for their staff, enhancing their skills and employability.
While local businesses initially expressed skepticism and distrust, the consortium hopes to inspire similar collaborations in other sectors of the oil and gas industry. “There are other areas within local content where people can come together,” Kumar said, emphasizing the potential for wider collaboration.
Baker confirmed that the consortium would consider adding new members in the future, following discussions. She also praised the initiative as an example of government efforts to ensure Guyanese businesses benefit from the country’s oil wealth. “It was a great initiative by the President,” she noted, emphasizing the importance of empowering local businesses to capitalize on such opportunities.
President Irfaan Ali met with the group last week, expressing his support for the consortium’s achievements and its future plans. A release from his office mentioned the formation of a catering and restaurant association, which was agreed upon during the meeting. The Local Content Secretariat has registered over 1,000 local suppliers under Guyana’s Local Content Act, which mandates that oil and gas companies procure specific services from local businesses.
In addition to the success of the catering consortium, the government is actively addressing practices like “fronting,” where companies falsely claim local ownership to meet local content criteria. Several companies were denied local content certificates in November 2023 after investigations into such practices, and the government plans to revise the Local Content Act to impose stricter penalties on companies found guilty of fronting.
