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The goal of reducing reliance on food imports in the region has seen a rise in the number of farm-to-table restaurants, and we’ve cherry-picked some highlights
Caribbean cuisine boasts enticing flavours, from the bold, smoky marinade of jerk chicken to the sweet deliciousness of banana-like plantain. One thing’s for sure, Caribbean cuisine is not one to be dismissed.
However, due to a lack of arable land suitable for large-scale farming, the Caribbean has become increasingly reliant upon importing supplies, with its countries reported to have acquired more than 80% of consumed food from abroad, according to figures from regional organisation Caribbean Community (Caricom).
In response, Caricom launched the Twenty-Five by 2025 initiative in 2022, aiming to cut the Caribbean’s food import bill by 25% within three years by investing in farming infrastructure and intra-regional trade. Since the initiative’s launch, farm-to-fork experiences have been becoming more popular across the Caribbean, where visitors are served authentic dishes crafted from the fresh, seasonal produce of the region.
Here are some of the best farm-to-fork experiences on offer for clients seeking genuine Caribbean ingredients, flavours and cuisine.
While the Greg Norman 18-hole golf course may have previously been the greatest selling point for Aurora Anguilla Resort, the farm-to-fork dinner experience is bound to satisfy clients’ taste buds. Using fresh ingredients grown on the resort’s own hydroponic farm, each morning chefs adapt the resort’s menus according to the produce ready for harvest. Almost 90% of the vegetables, fruit and herbs in food dishes and cocktails are grown on Aurora Anguilla’s 10,000sqft of farmland, and when there’s a surplus it’s given to the local community. Clients can join a cookery class to learn how to make local delicacies like Johnny cake, pina colada salad and jerk butternut squash using ingredients grown at the farm.
Book it: Caribtours offers seven nights at the Aurora Anguilla Resort & Golf Club from £3,849pp in low season, including breakfast, flights, private transfers and UK airport lounge access; caribtours.co.uk. For more about Aurora Anguilla’s organic farm, see auroraanguilla.com
Stush in the Bush owners Chris and Lisa Binns are taking their commitment to local produce one step further with an entirely organic farm-to-table vegetarian restaurant set in the hidden hills of Saint Ann. Guests choosing one of the restaurant’s mezze boards can indulge in pineapple croquettes and eggplant accras while surrounded by lush vegetation in this open-air dining experience. Prior to their meal, clients can enjoy a walking tour of the Zionites Farm and learn about the regenerative agricultural practices used to harvest the restaurant’s ingredients. To visit Stush in the Bush, clients would be best located at boutique hotel Jamaica Inn, a 30-minute drive away.
Book it: Inspiring Travel offers a seven-night stay at Jamaica Inn on a B&B basis from £2,399pp including flights and transfers; inspiringtravel.co.uk. For more about Stush in the Bush, see stushinthebush.com
Saint Lucia’s farm-to-table movement is gaining real momentum. The Virtual Agricultural Clearing House (VACH) programme connects more than 100 producers and 60 chefs through two WhatsApp groups, where over 300 messages are exchanged daily. This facilitates the trade of locally produced supplies such as mangoes, tomatoes and honey. As the network has grown, the dependence on imported produce by the hospitality sector has decreased by around 15%. Island pioneers for farm-to-table include Anse Chastanet and Jade Mountain resorts, which have grown their own produce at their organic farm, Emerald Estate, since 2007. And there’s Rabot Hotel From Hotel Chocolat offering immersive “tree-to-bar” chocolate experiences. At the hotel’s working cacao farm, clients can sample distinctive dishes combining the bean with locally sourced seafood, fruit and vegetables.
Book it: Kuoni offers seven nights at Rabot Hotel from Hotel Chocolat from £1,682pp, in low season, including transfers and flights; kuoni.co.uk. For more about Rabot Hotel from Hotel Chocolat, see hotelchocolat.com
Local & Co is a farm-to-table restaurant in a historic building in Speightstown. Chef-patron Sophie Michell, a British expat, oversees a reduce, reuse, regenerate and recycle ethos that supports regenerative farming and buys from small-scale butchers who respect animal welfare. Menus regularly change but sample dishes include skillet free-range chicken with organic greens and breadfruit gnocchi with black belly sheep ragu. Clients at nearby Cobblers Cove and Saint Peter’s Bay Resort are in the most convenient locations to enjoy a leisurely lunch out here.
Book it: Pure Luxury offers seven nights’ B&B at Cobblers Cove from £2,899pp (based on two sharing an Upper Circle Suite), including flights departing from Heathrow on 9 October and private transfers; goldmedal.co.uk/pure-luxury. For more about Local & Co, see thelocalbarbados.com
This Relais and Chateaux property on the shores of L’Anse aux Epines is committed to providing its guests with authentic, Grenadian experiences. The on-site restaurants source 80% of their produce from the family’s own organic-certified farm, L’Esterre, which uses excess seaweed for fertiliser and has bee hives to improve biodiversity. Executive head chef Ramces is fully committed to educating guests, saying: “It’s our responsibility to get our guests excited about changing habits to normalise sustainable attitudes to food. If avocados aren’t in season, they aren’t on our menu.” Clients can also take a guided tour with a local agro-tourism company to learn about the nutritional and medicinal benefits of herbs and spices grown in Grenada.
Book it: Elegant Resorts offers a seven-night stay at Calabash Hotel from £3,495pp including breakfast, flights, transfers and UK lounge access; elegantresorts.co.uk. For more about Calabash, see calabashhotel.com
The breakfast spread at Liamuiga Natural Farms is as diverse as a hotels’ buffets, writes James Litston. Served in a wooden gazebo with squares of banana leaves as plates, my tour group is welcomed by a colourful selection of pumpkin pancakes, pickled turmerics, eggs, cassava chips, fresh fruits and sweet papaya and ginger jam accompanied by a choice coffee or basil and lemongrass tea. It all looks delicious and wonderfully fresh; but these dishes' distinguishing detail is that their ingredients were grown or produced right here on the farm (visitlnf.com).
Located way up on Mount Liamuiga in a dip between two peaks, the farm sits surrounded by the towering trees of St Kitts’ Central Forest Reserve National Park, which covers around a quarter the island. “We like to call it our pandemic project,” says the guide, describing how the farm was founded on an abandoned plantation back in 2020 before opening with these tours late last year. “Liamuiga means “fertile land” in the indigenous Taino language,” he continues, “so pretty much everything we plant in its rich, volcanic soil grows well.”
As we walk off our hearty breakfast, he points out mangos, cabbages, pineapples and bananas; but the farm's most significant crop is coffee. “We roast it ourselves and serve it here and down at our café on the Frigate Bay Strip.”
It's also served on the other side of the mountain at Belle Mont Sanctuary Resort (bellemontsanctuaryresort.com), a fabulously luxurious hotel with a similar commitment to keeping things local. “We source as much produce as possible from farms on Mount Liamuiga's lower slopes, plus fish from boats that land their catch on the beach,” says general manager Eustace Guichard. “In doing so, we support local communities and provide fresh, flavourful and more nutritious food for our guests. Everybody wins!”
visitstkitts.com
