Javion “Jay” Blake

An adamant dreamer and an even more joyful doer, Javion “Jay” Blake had plans to one day transcend the geographical and environmental boundaries. He relocated to the United States to pursue a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering and subsequently a MSc. in industrial and Management Engineering at Montana State University. Jay would later transition into engineering product design, working across several industries, following graduation. Growing up in Jamaica, he recalls it was a painful watching fresh fruits going to waste after sellers at the local farmers markets discard leftover produce. Imaging witnessing this food waste while concurrently hearing discussions of national unemployment being out of control. As a child, he never accepted this had to be the reality. He believed adamantly that these wasted foods were valuable and through unlocking the values, many could be employed in a sustainable agriculture sector. Years later, having learnt the necessary scientific and engineering techniques, he was equipped to expand beyond those environmental limitations. Furnished with a dream and some personal capital in autumn of 2019, he was able to start the mission of creating value from the wasted food he witnessed as a child. He has successfully launch Breadfruit Chips and Breadfruit Pancake Mix in several online and off-line retail locations and is currently working on launching additional products. A major limitation with bring an innovative product to the market is the understanding that we are operating ahead of the curve. It requires a careful balance of proactivity and patience to overcome these barriers. In our case, commercial Breadfruit operation is relatively new; requiring that we remain very active in the management of the entire value chain whether that involves the planting of the crop or the harvesting and transportation of the raw material. We expect that the industry to mature with the passage of time, and these resource intensive operations will become more standardized and efficient.