The Tribune

It started with sweet potatoes, onions and peppers, grew to soursop and limes, and the Melia Nassau Beach resort is now expanded its efforts to support Bahamian businesses by purchasing fish, conch and fresh crawfish from Bahamian fishermen.

Andrew Tilley, the hotel’s general manager, said: “It makes all the sense in the world to buy as much as you can locally.

“It pleases the guests who enjoy tasting true local fare. It is especially appealing because what you are serving is fresh, and is being served the same day it was caught. And it supports local business, which is very important to the Melia brand.”

This is important to companies such as Dad & Lad, which supplies conch, grouper and red snapper, and hopes to expand to crawfish when the season opens in August.

“It’s not often that you find foreign companies wanting to deal with Bahamians,” says Dwight Higgins, one half of the Dad & Lad father-and-son fishing duo.

Dad is in Mayaguana, Dwight in Nassau. Dad fishes early, then packs the coolers and loads them aboard a plane. The catch arrives fresh and is never frozen, says executive chef Sidney Bullard, who recently won an honourable mention for Leader of the Quarter, a high honour considering competition at the Cable Beach hotel was 500-strong.

The younger Higgins, 43, has been fishing since he was in his late teens, and this is only the second time he has had an opportunity to supply catch to a Bahamian establishment.

“I wish more people would adopt that same habit of looking for the Bahamian first,” he says. “I encourage Melia to continue what they’re doing in putting Bahamians first. I hope they make a big difference and set the landscape for other foreign-owned companies who come in and import everything, rather than giving the small business an opportunity.

“If you provide good service and provide the product that’s coming from the heart and not a conveyor belt, it makes a difference and I applaud and compliment Melia for seeing that difference.”

As for how the kitchen handles the catch to make the most appetizing sea-to-table presentation, executive chef Bullard, chef Paul Pratt and cooks such as Sandra all contribute, often calling on old Bahamian family favourites.

“When I came here and realised soursop grew in the Bahamas, I knew life in the kitchen was going to be fun,” says Mr Tilley. “I’m looking forward to discovering the soursop drink or ice cream recipe, and we’ll add that to the menu of one of our new restaurants.”

Three new restaurants are scheduled to open as part of Melia’s $10 million-plus in renovations. The Spanish-based chain last December reflagged the hotel that opened as the Cable Beach Hotel & Resort 30 years ago.

It is now part of a high-end network of 300 hotels in 30 countries, and will become part of the $3.5 billion Baha Mar project when it launches.