Nutmeg War Explodes In Grenada

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, New York

04 June 2002

Grenada is the world's single largest producer of nutmegs - the plant even features on the country's flag. Now after 55 years the monopoly of the nutmeg farmers' marketing organisation is being challenged.

The Grenada Co-operative Nutmeg Association (GCMA) was created by a 1947 law that made all farmers its members, and gave it the sole right to buy and export Grenadian nutmeg. Now private company W & W Spices has constructed a 25,000 square foot nutmeg processing plant and says that by producing 'value-added' nutmeg products it can by-pass the law and offer higher prices to farmers.

Prime Minister Keith Mitchell has come down on the side of W & W Spices, saying said the Association has been slow to modernise its operations. But nutmeg farmers are confused, and Mr Mitchell came in for fierce criticism when he recently toured a nutmeg 'cracking' station.

"He should, never let that happen, we are being victimised," one farmer said. Women working at the cracking machines cried out: "We dont want to see you, go!....what you come here for!..... you have no shame... go! you call them police to wet us down and now you coming and look for us."

The GCMA has filed an injunction to stop W & W Spices from purchasing nutmeg, reminding farmers that anyone found selling nutmegs to W & W Spices could be fined or imprisoned for at least one month. W&W Spices says it intends to process nutmegs into glycerol and myristic acid and other extracts for the cosmetic, pharmaceuticals and food industries.

Grenada earns more than $20m a year from nutmeg exports; the industry employs a third of the work-force. Although the island has a thriving tourist sector, its attempts to create a financial services sector have been dogged by accusations of lax regulation, and held back by OECD and FATF initiatives to control offshore jurisdictions.

The Government recognises that nutmeg farmers have failed to benefit from global economic growth, and after long consideration has decided to back W & W Spices in an attempt to shake up the backward industry.

W & W Spices has already established one nutmeg receiving station and is reportedly making preparations to establish a second one. Owner of the company Joel Webbe is said to have been meeting groups of farmers to offer them higher prices for this year's nutmeg output. Said one farmer: "Well, I cannot understand, me place is mines, my nutmeg is mines, I sell me nutmeg to who I want," before hanging up on a Grenadian Voice reporter who had called him.

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