Jamaican Food Entrepreneurs Compete For Table Talk Best New Local Product Honour

Jamaica’s food manufacturing community is looking ahead to Thursday, June 25, 2026, when the Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards 2024 Best (New) Local Product Award winner is scheduled to be announced.

Thirteen nominees from small, medium and large businesses met at AC Hotel Kingston on Tuesday, May 12, for a demanding judging exercise. The session was guided by Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards conceptualiser Novia McDonald-Whyte, with Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Floyd Green joining a panel of 15 judges and guest judges.

The entrants presented items rooted in Jamaican culinary traditions while showing new approaches to flavour, packaging and readiness for the marketplace. The judging also pointed to the increasing maturity of the country’s agro-processing industry, with products built around local ingredients and commercial ambition.

Although the category will produce just one winner, several participants said the process had already helped them through professional feedback and wider industry visibility as they work to move their brands beyond Jamaican retail shelves. Judges sampled a broad mix of sweet and savoury items paired with the competing products.

“This is exactly what the Food Awards is about… Based on what we have seen, and what we continue to see each year, but especially this year, in light of Hurricane Melissa, this is what we’re talking about resilience — really putting our shoulders to the wheel and showing the world that we have world-class products. We don’t need to bring Michelin stars here. We are Michelin stars! We need to create our own and applaud our own,” said Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards Chair Novia McDonald-Whyte.

The nominees included sweet potato chips; Mexican-style tortilla and flautas produced locally by expatriates; seasonings from hospitality professional Zoë Dawkins; a cheese sauce created by father-and-daughter team Anthony and Sangieanna Reid; canned lychee lemonade; flavoured peanuts and peanut butter from returning competitor Dalton Bryan; jerk fritters mix; gourmet coffee syrup; ready-to-grill BBQ boneless thighs; Nations Choice curry goat burgers; oxtail marinade; homemade desserts from Cousin Vinny’s Kitchen; and new beer and rum mixes from Legend Lager and Worthy Park Rum.

“Last year was my first year. And I made it very clear to Novia that she’s stuck with me. “I am going to be here, rain or shine. Because it’s such a wonderful event that gives so much hope to Jamaica. When you hear the stories from all our presenters, [how] they develop their products, when you see the innovation and the creativity, it just reminds you that we’re an amazing people,” said Green as he closed the event.

“And it’s even better coming out of Hurricane Melissa, having been through so much to see the best of Jamaica on display here today. Last year was extremely good. This year was better… I just want to give a big shout-out — I can’t help it —to the people who utilise the Jamaican products. We are very happy for that. And definitely, for those who want to use Jamaican products, talk to me. Let’s see how we can make it happen… that’s part of what we have to do better in our agricultural sector. You hear people talk about pricing and they can’t [engage] you know, because of consistency. We have to make those linkages with companies like yours, so that we have that value chain. So that our agricultural sector is not just seen as primary production, but it’s [also] as all that we are doing here today. This is agriculture whether you’re growing beer, or you’re doing a seasoning, or you’re doing potato chips, or a cheesy sauce,” he concluded.

The Best (New) Local Product award has grown into one of the yearly programme’s closely watched categories, recognising Jamaican entrepreneurs whose products continue to reshape the island’s food sector.