And the nominee in the category best (new) local product… CANNONBALL READY READY MEALS

Principal(s): Laura Matalon Chandley, Karen Matalon, and Ian Chandley

E-mail address: admin@cannonballcoffee.com & laurachandley@gmail.com

Who we are:

Cannonball Café is a wholly owned subsidiary of Two Sisters and a Dog Café Ltd, owned and operated by Laura Matalon-Chandley, Karen Matalon, and Ian Chandley. Cannonball Café has been in operation since 2003 where it began as a corner café in Manor Park Plaza. It has since grown to four outlets and a growing catering arm in the Kingston metro area, adding locations in Barbican, New Kingston and Liguanea. What started as a simple café where people would meet for coffee and light snacks has evolved into a leading player in the fast casual dining market segment where customers can enjoy healthy meals prepared quickly on-site by friendly, knowledgeable staff. Cannonball Café is managed with an engaging, hands-on management team who ensures that their customers receive the highest level of service, freshest foods and superior dining experience. Our Ready Ready Meals (Ready to Heat, Ready to Eat) are an extension of Cannonball Café. It was created during COVID as a way for Cannonball to bring our home-cooked, quality meals to our loyals as they were not able to visit our cafés.

The range of new products:

Our Ready Ready Menu consists of 11 items. We are focusing today on the Pot Pie line which currently has five flavours: Oxtail and Broad Beans, Steak and Guinness, Curried Goat, Traditional Creamy Chicken and Coconut Curried Chickpea and Vegetables

Where the ingredients are sourced… all ingredients are locally sourced from all over the island.

Where the products are currently being sold… our pot pies and other Ready Ready products are sold in all Cannonball Café locations (Sovereign North, Manor Park and New Kingston), Butcher Block (Kingston: Manor Park, Loshusan Plaza and Harmony Hall in Ocho Rios); CPJ Markets both in Kingston and Montego Bay; The Courthouse Gallery and Café in Ocho Rios.

The story behind the packaging of the products:

Two months into the pandemic, we were trying to figure out the best way to get our delicious food to our customers as they were unable to visit our locations. We originally placed our pot pies in cellophane bags as that is all that was available. Initially, we printed up simple heating instructions on computer paper for our friends. Within a few months, we realised that we had to refine our packaging and came out with “Ready Ready… Ready to Heat, Ready to Eat” line and created the folded labels that we can attach to the pot pie bags with more detailed heating and storage instructions. We are still evolving and are finalising a freezer, shelf stable box for the near future.

We made these products because… we wanted to bring our great tasting food to our loyal customers who were stuck in their homes due to COVID restrictions.

Our first breakthrough came… in April 2020. We were constantly being called by our customers who were missing Cannonball’s pot pies, lasagnes and quiches and we decided to set up delivery systems from Kingston to Montego Bay in order to meet these demands.

The products became available to the public in… April 2020

Our core customers are... everyone who loves good homestyle, comfort food.

The response to the products has been… outstandingly positive which is why we have extended not just the pot pie line but also other items in the Ready Ready menu.

Our products are successful because… all products in our Ready Ready line of food are made with no preservatives, use only the freshest locally sourced products, are flash frozen to preserve flavour, are easy to use and convenient to have in your freezer.

We plan to grow the business to become… a household name and be in every freezer islandwide.

Our major challenge is… inflation and the unfamiliarity of our Ready Ready: Ready to Heat, Ready to Eat line.

This issue remains managing the raw material inventory is… due to the continual price fluctuation we have to forecast pricing, keeping in mind that the end price has to be affordable for our consumers. We have developed great relationship with our suppliers, especially those with the agricultural sector, which allows us to stabilise our price to the best of our ability.

If we knew then what we know now… we would have started it earlier than 2020.

Jamaicans should support our products because… we are a locally owned, female driven company that believes in supporting Jamaican products and local vendors.