By Leiselle Maraj Thursday, July 29 2010

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A wish to honour the deceased Vindra Naipaul-Coolman and his 65-year-old father, led Vernon Deochand Persad to accept the post of president of the Supermarket Association (SATT) last Thursday at the organisation’s annual general meeting.

“I remembered a specific conversation I had with Vindra before her untimely passing. We were at Crown Point airport returning from a retreat in Tobago on strategic planning and I asked her why was she in this association. She told me that one of the greatest things in life is when we can serve and not when we can serve ourselves but for our people and our country. She said this is one of the greatest achievements. She always said, ‘Service to man is service to God.’ and she was one of my greatest inspirations,” he said before dedicating his presidency to Naipaul-Coolman.

Naipaul-Coolman, the former CEO of the Xtra Foods Supermarket chain, was kidnapped in 2006 and has since been declared murdered.

Persad also had words of praise for his father’s own achievements.

“Dad turned 65 recently and celebrated 40 years in service through his supermarket. So I took up the presidency to crown off his achievements because my father took his countryside shop of ten feet by ten feet and converted that initial investment of $6,000 to a chain of seven supermarkets,” he said

At the age of 38, his proclamation of being “born into the food and supermarket business” is therefore justified.

But before entering the profession, Persad earned his Association of Chartered Certified Accountants certification in England after attending Naparima College in San Fernando. He worked in London until 1997 when he returned to work as an auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers and as group accountant at the Skinner Group of Companies.

He came full circle in 2000 when he rejoined the family business and he is now responsible for the finance and administration of the chain of Persad D’ Food King supermarkets and has the title of managing director of the three outlets in the southeast region.

Persad says the family created their own East-West corridor in South Trinidad with their seven locations spread between Mayaro and Point Fortin.

Persad explained that he was a member of the SATT for the last two terms and served in the last executive under outgoing president, Balliram Maharaj. He credited Maharaj and SATT chief executive officer Robin Persad as two more inspirations since they were responsible for introducing him to the association.

Judging from his first address as president, Persad intends on stimulating more involvement from members as well as non-members in the supermarket industry. He complimented his predecessor for the direction taken by the association during his tenure.

“It comes down to different leadership styles. Maharaj came into the presidency at a time when the association had a negative image. It was a time when a lot of misinformation was being communicated to the public which made supermarkets appear to be unfriendly to customers. We were called price gougers and so on. The last administration was focussed on reselling the image of the association and informing the public that we really were price takers. I think Maharaj did this successfully,” he said.

He said Maharaj was also very much involved in the formulation of legislation which impacted on the supermarket industry. “I think much of the work done by the executive took up most of their time at the expense of alienating the rest of the members,” Persad explained.

Plans to create subcommittees within the association is one way in which Persad and his executive hope to bring the SATT and non-members closer together.

“In all, there are 300 supermarket owners, that is the owners of large conglomerates, medium sized and smaller sized groceries and shops. However, we have 100 members in the association with about 50 financial members. We are trying to convert from 50 core members to spread and accommodate all 300 owners to give members or non members the opportunity to make a positive contribution in the industry and formulate plans,” he said.

Outlining the aims and objectives of the SATT, he said the group is expected to lobby as a strong economic group to ensure government provides effective laws and regulations for the industry. One of the main issues facing the industry is that of liquor licence reform. He explained the legislation covering liquor licences is archaic since it was designed for alcohol consumption on the premises.

“In the past, most groceries had bars attached to them but they are not designed like this any longer. We are asking for law makers to move up with the times and introduce a supermarket licence, similar to the restauranteurs’ and hoteliers’ licence,” he said.

“Owners of supermarkets and groceries have to line up outside court for this licence every year with all the hardened criminals. We are treated sometimes with scant discourtesy and we sometimes put ourselves at risk. I think we can contribute better to the economy by staying at our businesses.”

Persad said while the association fully supports any legislation on recycling, there is need for government to legislate the use of reusable bags to reduce litter caused by plastic bags.

“Our industry develops a lot of waste and we are in full support of all litter laws,” he said.

Under Persad, SATT is expected to become more involved in corporate social responsibility (CSR).

“President Barack Obama at the fifth summit spoke of CSR and that is something we would like to put in the association’s marketing drive,” Persad said.

He explained supermarkets already perform CSR through donations to fund raising causes but he believes more could be done.

“For example, the extra change that sits around on in groceries on tables and the floor can make a positive contribution to Government’s Life Fund for sick children. We give kudos to the government for this initiative and we want to contribute to this because our future depends on the children and we need to look after them,” he said.

He said the association would like to see what he calls “human food” being sold. Persad explained that this meant a reduction in the use of pesticides in the production of fresh food and more use of biological control options to provide a safer alternative to consumers.

“There is crowding in the hospitals because of people eating improper food or eating food with improper inputs. The green revolution is the future and we want to be part of that. We want to see our people eating healthier and we want to be a part of it.

“As they say, ‘what you eat is what you become’ so we are looking forward to a healthier Trinidad and Tobago,” Persad said.