Webinar: The Caribbean – your source for immune health and sustainability
In this webinar brought to you by Caribbean Export Development Agency join academics, food and drink industry experts and Caribbean exporters on the functional benefits of immune-boosting natural products made with pure and simple ingredients from the Caribbean.
Globally, the nutraceutical market was predicted to be worth US $250 billion in 2018. With this increasing demand, Caribbean natural product and ingredient exporters are poised to take advantage of this momentum.
Ingredients such as seamoss, more commonly known as Irish moss, turmeric, moringa, ginger and other natural products, including gluten free flours, tropical fruit pulps, and spices. Learn what the Caribbean is doing to ensure sustainable practices, as well as how indigenous communities are supported in meeting this growing trend for immune health.
Although the webinar was live on June 15, 2021, you can access it on demand via the link below.
About this Webinar
Webinar Themes
- Introduction to the Caribbean flora and their health-related benefits
- Global health trends and consumer market data for plant based natural products and functional foods
- Overview of the phytochemistry of plant-based ingredients and their health benefits
- How sustainability and the environment affect consumer choices
- Review of the catalogue of products by Caribbean exporters
Our Speakers
Dr. Damian Cohall, Senior Lecturer, Pharmacology & Deputy Dean (Pre-clinical), University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.
Dr. Damian Cohall is a Jamaican born pharmacologist who joined the Faculty of the Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill in 2008. He is currently the Deputy Dean (Preclinical Sciences) and a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology at the university and has profound research interests in Ethnopharmacology and Pharmacognosy. In 2014, he published a book through the UWI Press entitled “Medicinal Plants of Barbados for the Treatment of Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases”. Most recently, he co-authored the chapter “Pharmacodynamics -A Pharmacognosy Perspective” in a book entitled Pharmacognosy: Fundamentals and Strategy, Elsevier: In Press. He also maintains an active research interest in cardiovascular risk profiling and medical education and has published successfully in those areas. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the West Indian Medical Journal.
Michael Hughes, Director of Insights, FMCG Gurus UK.
Michael Hughes is Head of Research and Insight and has over 13 years’ experience analyzing consumer trends across the food, drink and supplement industry. Mike has a particular interest in challenging industry perceptions when it comes to assumptions around how consumers think and behave, as well as identifying new and evolving trends across markets.
Kerwin Samuel, Manager, Total Health Foods and Services Ltd.
Kerwin Samuel was born, raised and lives in the beautiful Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. He is the Owner and Manager of Total Health Foods and Services Ltd. and a proud seamoss farmer. He remains a strong advocate for the Seamoss Industry in Saint Lucia and continues to serve as the President of the Eau Piquant Seamoss Farmers Association.
Kerwin helped boost the Seamoss Industry in Saint Lucia, (with the assistance of Export Saint Lucia) when Total Health Foods and Services Ltd became the first company to ship seamoss to the UK market. He looks forward to seeing how the Seamoss industry in Saint Lucia will grow to become the number one industry.
Beverly Ruddock, Chief Executive Officer, Jamrow Trading and Manufacturing Company Ltd.
Beverly Ruddock has been with Jamrow since November 2017 as the Chief Executive Officer, overseeing all aspects of the business. She has worked in the manufacturing industry since 1998, and in the rum industry for 20yrs as a quality and product development personnel and a coordinator in the blending area for wines and Liqueurs.
She has a Degree in Business Management and Public Management from the University of the West Indies (Mona). She endeavours to grow Jamrow into a leading extraction company for nutraceuticals in the Caribbean, to grow at least 50% of the raw materials that we supply within the next ten years and to have a solid sustainable strategy and putting this sustainable plan into practice for the stability of the natural systems and society.
Kashae Ferguson, Consultant in Alternative Lifestyle Medicine.
Kashae Ferguson has been a healthcare professional since 2002. She has worked as a Registered Nurse and Family Nurse Practioner. She received degrees from Lehman College, Johns Hopkins University, and Rutgers University. She also completed a fellowship in Family Medicine with the former Carolinas Healthcare System in 2016, now known as Atrium Health in North Carolina.
She received addtional training in Alternative / Lifestyle Medicine at Uchee Pines Lifestyle Center in Alabama from 2016 to 2019. She is passionate about helping others facing health challenges and strives to apply a holistic approach to disease treatment and management.
Further Detail
Health and wellbeing has become central to many of our lives with health-conscious consumers demanding natural products made with pure and simple ingredients. Immune health more recently has garnered particular attention owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the desire for people to feed their bodies with certain foods that may help to prevent colds, the flu and other infections and keep a strong immune system. Immune system boosters and superfoods are common terms being touted for many products found naturally in the Caribbean, such as seamoss, turmeric, moringa and ginger.
The Caribbean has historically been a tropical haven for a range of plant-based or natural ingredients. It’s therefore no surprise that the region is seeing a surge in demand for these natural products. Globally, the nutraceutical market was predicted to be worth US $250 billion in 2018. With increased demand, the question of sustainability becomes of paramount importance, not only in terms of preserving the quality and potency of the product during production, but also ensuring farmers and local communities are not compromised or marginalised but in fact benefit from the surge in demand.
In this webinar, hear from academics, food and drink industry experts and Caribbean exporters on the functional benefits of seamoss, more commonly known as Irish moss, turmeric, moringa, ginger and other natural products including gluten free flours and tropical fruit pulps and spices on what the Caribbean is doing to ensure sustainable practices and how indigenous communities are supported in meeting this growing trend for immune health.
