Castries, June 7, 2016 – The nine-member Team Saint Lucia to the Taste of the Caribbean culinary competition is currently in Miami to take on more than ten (10) other countries in the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association’s annual competition for Caribbean chefs.
Saint Lucia’s participation in the regional Taste of the Caribbean competition is organized by the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA). As part of its preparations, the SLHTA hosted a series of practice dinners where patrons paid to taste the culinary delights of Team Saint Lucia as part of the training to fine tune their respective specialities ahead of their food battles. The revenue from the practice dinners together with sponsorship from corporate entities helped to cover the costs associated with the team’s participation in the competition.
St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) has consistently supported Saint Lucia’s participation in the culinary competition, and did so again this year. Corporate Communications Manager Roger Joseph says the competition helps to turn the spotlight on a unique aspect of the island’s tourism product.
“The global attention that Saint Lucia gets from its participation in the competition, especially when our team does well, is phenomenal. We believe our support contributes in a very tangible way to promoting another excellent reason to visit Saint Lucia. This positive exposure eventually converts into tourists coming to Saint Lucia and the resultant positive impacts on the economy,” he explained.
Team Saint Lucia is managed by Rodroy Thomas and includes the Taste of the Caribbean 2015 Junior Chef of the Year Edna Butcher who will look to defend her title. Last year Team Saint Lucia captured two gold medals and five silver medals in addition to the Overall Cheesecake of the Year Award.
Taste of the Caribbean 2016 is being held under the theme “Island Pride 2016” from June 6-10.
