Jul 31

Jul 31 Pure Grenada

With my journalist hat on, I was lucky to fly Upper Class with Virgin Atlantic to Grenada with The PC Agency, to write a story for The i on the re-opening of the country after lockdown. Vaccine uptake was slow and it was fascinating interviewing the prime minister, a mathematician, on weighing up the risk to the population: letting visitors into the country vs losing out on 60% of their GDP (from tourism and students).

Staying in the luxury beachfront hotel Silversands, we were treated to some wonderful farm to fork food, whilst visiting small shacks on the island for drinks and lunch, one near a magnificent waterfall. When imports had been restricted due to fewer flights and boats, smallholders on the island turned to growing crops in the incredibly fertile soil and many then continued to supply the hospitality sector thereafter.

We met some really inspiring people, including the daughter of the owner of the delightful Calabash Hotel (Relais and Chateaux with a Michelin Key) who makes chocolate from a single source, their L’Esterre estate in the hills. The family also help build hurricane-resistant libraries for primary schools across the country, which deserves a whole story on its own.

Sometime later, I was asked to recreate the culinary experience, to make a stand for Pure Grenada at the National Geographic Traveller food festival. As this was a little outside my comfort zone, I partnered up with Helen Gilchrist, who had just won best stand at the prestigious antiques fair, Masterpiece, at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.

For the event, we put together a rum shack, with solid bamboo fencing, fire-retardant straw roofing and a foliage wall for selfies. For a touch of colour, I designed a neon sign with a good font to emphasise the P and G of #PureGrenada and had it made in LED by Neon87 in Exeter, who were superb to work with. The entire stand was made to be fully re-usable and as sustainable as possible.