Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Spanish Town ‘Reggae Chef’ Making It Big in New York
#Jamaica, December 11, 2017 – Kingston – He started out selling water to churchgoers in the Valdez Road community of Spanish Town before taking on other small entrepreneural ventures. Today, Peter Ivey is a recognised international chef and owner of The Reggae Chefs – a personal-chef business based in New York.
The Jamaica College old boy says it was his grandfather who first sparked the flame of entrepreneurship inside him at a young age, and it has been burning ever since.
“Growing up on Valdez Road, there was a church beside my yard. At the age of five, my grandfather would fill plastic bags with water, freeze them and give me to go over to the church and sell. That was how I became fascinated with entrepreneurship,” Ivey says.
After graduating from high school, he tried a number of other small business ventures, including selling T-shirts and compact discs (CDs). He moved to the United States in his later teens and continued to seek out opportunities to establish himself as a young entrepreneur. This led to him starting a taxi company in the New York area, but he wanted to do something else. The idea for his most successful venture – Reggae Chefs – came one day while attending a reggae concert in Las Vegas.
“I was living in Las Vegas, and I heard of a reggae concert keeping. Junior Gong, Tony Rebel – all the major reggae acts were performing,” he recounts.
“It was amazing to me to see white people soaking up reggae music, and see people selling curry goat and Rasta hats. It was all white people selling, and everyone purchasing was white also,” he notes.
He reveals that from that day, he began to ponder how he could combine everything he saw, package it and market it as “an authentic Jamaican product”. He spent the next two years toying with the idea until he decided to partner with a Jamaican chef to start a personal-chef business. The idea was to not just offer Jamaican food but the Jamaican experience as well.
“The Reggae Chefs fuses Jamaican culture and Jamaican food in a way that is creative. Our clients are able to go to the website and pair entertainment options with dining options, and two chefs come out to your home and provide that service,” he explains.
“So, you can book us, tell us what you want, and we come and cook. We bring the ludo board, bring the rum and set up your living room or your house or wherever you want us to be,” he explains.
Ivey says a total of 13 chefs now make up the team; four employed full-time and the rest on contract. He adds that while the team is mainly based in the New York area, they also travel outside the US to service clients upon request.
“Whenever I talk to vulnerable youth, what I tell them is that if you have a dream, get up every single day and focus on your dream. Only optimism will get you out of a dark hole,” he says.
By: Nedburn Thaffe
Release: JIS
Caribbean News
Paid internship opportunity in Energy Data Collection, Application DEADLINE is April 19
April 19, 2024 – The Caribbean Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) in cooperation with the Energy and Utilities Department (EUD), Ministry of Public Safety and Utilities (MPSU), is looking for a motivated intern to work in close collaboration with regional and national institutions to survey and collect energy-related data that will be used to create the Energy Report Cards (ERCs) for the Turks and Caicos Islands. A stipend for the intern will be provided by CCREEE.
The intern will be based at the EUD/MPSU. The internship program will provide students and/or young professionals with a unique opportunity to work with the energy sector institutions and stakeholders in TCI, gain practical experience in the energy sector, and contribute to the knowledge management functions of the Regional Energy Information System within the CARICOM Energy Knowledge Hub (CEKH).
SCOPE OF WORK
The CCREEE in collaboration with the EUD/MPSU will collect specified data and information that will be used to develop the TCI Energy Report Cards which will be made accessible through the CARICOM Energy Knowledge Hub (CEKH). The hub may be accessed by registering at https://cekh.ccreee.org. The Energy Report Cards will also offer important support to the CCREEE work program, including support for energy planning and the development of sustainable energy projects.
DESIRED PROFILE
- Bachelor’s degree or on course for completion of one by December 2024.
- Interest in the energy sector and willingness to learn about the socio-economic, technical and environmental aspects of the energy landscape; studies in sustainable energy, environmental sciences or related fields are an asset but not a National or resident of one of the relevant countries.
- Proficiency in English.
INTERNSHIP TIMEFRAME
The internship will run for a period of eight (8) weeks from May 27 to July 19, 2024.
APPLICATION
The intern applicant should send their application (motivation letter and CV) on or before April 19, 2024 to recruitment@ccreee.org and copy eud@gov.tc.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
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