Prime Distributors: Celebrating 40 years in the food biz

With a small idea that grew into a grand vision, Danny Ramchandani and Prime Distributors now sit at the top of the food pyramid for the northeast Caribbean. The business of distributing food products is a complex one, and it hasn’t been without its challenges, but through all the ups and downs across four decades, the loyalty of the employees and the clients have kept Prime Distributors growing.

Danny Ramchandani arrived on the island in 1972 and took a job as an electronics salesman. Within four years, that world had lost his interest and he was looking for something more challenging. Visiting with WEEKender in his Cole Bay office, he recalls, “It wasn’t exciting anymore, I couldn’t see myself continuing with it.”

It was during those four years that he travelled quite a bit. Whenever he was at Princess Juliana International Airport, he couldn’t help but notice that lots of tourists coming to the island would bring their own food. “They would bring in enough food for two weeks and stay at the Time Share. I also noticed that the supermarkets on the island were offering basics like sugar and rice but with big mark-ups; I thought I could do better.”

He started with a small warehouse – just 1,000 square feet – on Pondfill road. “There were mega distributors then, we were the smallest; but we were an instant success. Every year for the first five years, we had to move to a bigger warehouse. And within two years, the big companies were asking us to be their distributor.” By 1981, the business was well established, with a 30,000 square foot warehouse called Rams, located where Kooyman is now. This was the about the time that the customers asked for more fresh produce as well as frozen goods.

“We saw the need to diversify, so we built big freezers and coolers. That’s when we opened Prime Distributors just as a small warehouse in Cay Hill at first, and we also began to get into retail sales.” Business was booming, and then came Hurricane Luis in 1995. “We totally lost our whole business, between the hurricane and the looting, it was 100% write-off. We had never anticipated being completely wiped out like that, so we were very under-insured.”

It was a huge challenge to restart, but the employees were determined and encouraging. The family behind the business, including early shareholder “Mr. B. Ramchandani”, never wavered in their confidence that things would get better. The banks and suppliers also gave support. “It’s thanks to all of them that we were able to come back – but they stuck with us because of our 20-year track record and the good will we had earned.”

Ramchandani emphasized, “Even in that environment after Hurricane Luis, we never let a single employee go; we kept them all on and the business continued. We worked out of shipping containers in the heat for a full year.” Two years after that, the business was back to full throttle. By December 1997, they had opened the first state of the art, fully modern supermarket on the island. It was the new Rams, rebuilt in the same location that had been ripped from its foundation during the hurricane. And once again, they had instant success on their hands.

Ramchandani explained that the food business in the Caribbean is not a simple endeavour. There are no statistics to keep track of who brings in what, and all their orders are made about six months in advance. “There is no crystal ball,” he said. “Everything is imported, and there is importation occurring on the French side as well as the Dutch side, it’s very complicated. It’s both art and science. You sometimes have to make an order based on a combination of intuition and past experience.” He noted that since he grew the business himself, he has developed a sense of when to order and what to order, as well as how much. “It’s easy to overextend; you have to control the monster, and not let the monster control you.”

By the year 2001, things were progressing well and they were expanding again, that is, until several setbacks came along. In late August, there was a big fire that gutted the Cole Bay facility. Shortly after that, the company’s long-time shareholder and supporter “Mr. B.” passed away. Then came the 9-11 attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. “The island was once again dead,” said Ramchandani. “We had to operate our wholesale division out of containers for about six months.”

It was a difficult time for the entire island, tourism dropped to almost zero, and many companies had to find a way to adapt just to survive. That climate likely led to Prime’s competitor, Food Center, going out of business – an event which turned the tide for Ramchandani’s business concerns, as it allowed them to acquire the Food Center warehouse in Cole Bay. Now the company is at the pinnacle of distribution for food and related products for the entire region, importing from around the globe, supplying our island’s needs and sending palettes of products out to surrounding islands.

“The reason we are successful,” says Ramchandani, “is that we started from scratch and learned our lessons along the way. We know how to reduce excesses and minimize spoilage. We have long-term relationships with our clients and we appreciate our employees. We’ve been growing and we are getting more creative. I have to offer sincere thanks to all our dedicated employees and especially our dynamic management team. After four decades and all the ups and downs, we still continue to thrive and find ways to solve problems by working together.” That is the Prime Distributors philosophy in a nutshell.

For Prime Distributors’ perseverance, tenacity, respectful attitude, and dedication to excellence, the island of St. Maarten owes much to this company that holds an integral position in all our lives.

The Daily Herald

Copyright © 2020 All copyrights on articles and/or content of The Caribbean Herald N.V. dba The Daily Herald are reserved.


Without permission of The Daily Herald no copyrighted content may be used by anyone.

Comodo SSL
mastercard.png
visa.png

Hosted by

SiteGround
© 2025 The Daily Herald. All Rights Reserved.