For many of the hard working villagers in Grand Bras and the neighboring villages from which all the workers hail, agriculture is not only their primary source of income but, for them, producing some of the most nutritious, best tasting natural products and making them available to the rest of the world is a source of great pride.
Conscious of the need to adequately and fairly compensate and ‘incentivize’ the workers on the estate, and contribute to the upliftment of the surrounding rural community, a model that is both novel and fair was developed. From the commencement of operations by GIF Ltd., a profit sharing scheme was introduced in which workers on the estate will receive 12.5% of profits annually.
Additionally, a complementary program was introduced so that people from the neighboring communities also benefit from this project. This takes the form of the distribution of an additional 10% of annual profit to the surrounding community – the people of Grand Bras, Ford, Paraclete, La Fillette and Mount Horn. This is channeled through a non-profit company/foundation with representatives from each of these villages, who identify projects in the villages that require funding: schools or bridges that need repair, an indigent retiree who needs assistance, etc. Further, the shareholders of our company have endeavoured to leverage their network of contacts and friends overseas to raise additional funds for additional projects in the villages that the foundation will identify.
