11 Jul Convention 2025 Reflection: Taste of the Tropics

The beautiful island of Puerto Rico was the setting for BEMA Convention 2025, and while many enjoyed the amazing landscapes and gorgeous beaches, just as many also learned about the baking industry in Puerto Rico during the Taste of the Tropics Regional Baker Panel, sponsored by Coperion.

The panel’s topics ranged from the most popular products in the Caribbean nations, equipment and support needs, to labor issues and market growth. Panelists, Guillermo Cidre of Los Cidrines; Butch Hendrickson of Continental Baking Co. Ltd.; and Angel Vazquez of Pan Pepin, helped attendees get a better understanding of the unique tastes and needs of the Caribbean market.

Popular products

Regional tastes were in full view when the panel discussed the products popular with Caribbean consumers. Leading the way are white bread, tortillas, and sweet breads. Sweet treats like donuts and pastries are also showing growth.

“We basically make a 2-pound loaf,” Hendrickson said. “It’s very dense, and it’s probably made in what you would use for a 22-ounce bread in your U.S. market. It is our number one seller. It’s a difficult product to make, but we’ve been successful with it. We’ve done it for a long time, and I think it has grown well. Now, it is growing in in the United States and doing very well in the United Kingdom and Canada.”

Los Cidrines is also finding success with traditional Puerto Rican items.

“We have three production lines, and one is our most successful bread,” Cidre said. “It’s the Pan Sobao. It’s a traditional Puerto Rican bread, a sweet bread. I think it’s the uniqueness of that type of bread, soft and sweet. And then we have another line; it’s a maker line that we have pastries and we make a traditional dessert that we have in the island that’s selling very, very good.”

Operational challenges

Just like their U.S. counterparts, Caribbean-based bakers are facing labor challenges. Vazquez pointed out that re-entry into the workforce after COVID created labor challenges.

“The reality is that our industry is hard … the working hours plus there’s no consecutive-day weekends, so the biggest challenge is that re-entry even though the minimum salaries have gone up and we have done things to also incentivize the people to come back,” he said. “It is still a challenge.”

The labor situation in Jamaica is also challenging, Hendrickson said. Lack of education and institutional poverty make finding skilled labor difficult. In addition, often people who do receive education and training will immigrate to another country, taking that investment with them.

“What we’ve decided on is that we know we can find fewer better educated people so our new plants are a combination of robotics, and we’re going to take as much labor out of it and the people who stay will do extremely well for themselves,” Hendrickson said.

Cidre said he thinks one way to improve the labor shortage is to elevate the profession of baker in the same way that people who work in coffee shops now call themselves baristas.

“How can you motivate our employees to be not on a transitional job?” Cidre said. That should be this is going to be my profession, and I sometimes quite think that, for example, the guys that at some point, were making coffee now they’re not coffee makers; they’re baristas. Those people changed the profession, and they feel proud about it, and I think the challenge that we have right now is how can we get them to be motivated to say I’m a baker?”

Equipment support

Running a baking business in the Caribbean comes with its own logistical challenges like replacing equipment. Being on an island means plants can’t just order a new machine and have it delivered within a couple of days. Keeping the plant up and running requires planning and foresight.

Vazquez’s operation keeps a warehouse of equipment ready to replace anything that breaks, and they replace whatever they take out of the warehouse immediately.

Hendrickson pointed out that when manufacturers understand this, it can give them an edge in working with Caribbean bakers.

“That’s our reality,” he said. “We cannot jump in the car and run down to Home Depot. In Jamaica, you’re not going to find that stuff. Everything is an airline delivery if you’re in a hurry or by boat. We have had to fly people to Miami to walk out of MIA; they walk outside, they pick up a part, and they walk straight back in. We’ve had to do that to stay running because you just can’t keep every part. It’s the realization of BEMA members that this is what we face and that will give you the advantage over anyone else.”

Market talk

All of the panelists do a robust business in their home countries, and all are also branching out into export markets. Cidre said Los Cidrines sales are split 50/50 between Puerto Rico and the mainland United States. Continental Baking’s primary market is Jamaica with 85% of sales taking place there, including big box stores. Hendrickson, however, does not want the company to forget its roots as it looks to expand into other markets as far away as the United Kingdom.

“I’m proud to take say we do a pretty good job in [Jamaica],” Hendrickson said. “We have 9,000 distribution points, which means we’ll go anywhere from a big box store right down to some little lady on the corner was going to buy 20 loads. I keep reminding our people that lady made us, not the big box stores, that little lady. Today, the big stores are still 25% of our business, and the rest of it are small stores mom and pop or just mom or just pop. They are our bread and butter.”