June 19, 2025
And the 2025 Nominees Best (New) Local Products are… Paris Ruby Gourmet A Jamaican small manufacturer of Jamaican baked products, based in Montego Bay, owned and operated by Zelecia Smith. The name Paris Ruby was created to honour family, heritage and cherished recipes, while preserving a legacy for future generations to create and share delightful moments by enjoying a piece of Jamaica with the ones you love. Paris Ruby Fruitcake Mix: An original blend of a Jamaican Fruit Rum Cake, that is made for convenience and can be eaten all year round. This new product is made with local premium ingredients and is made in Jamaica by a Jamaican. Though made to provide convenience as a travel pack, the Paris Ruby Fruitcake Mix can be baked anytime, anywhere for any occasion or just for simple dessert pleasures. The authenticity of this product is 100 per cent premium and preserves the Jamaican heritage of “Just Like Grandma’s Cake”. https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025/06/19/2025-nominees-best-new-local-products-20250619-0326-021523
February 24, 2025
KINGSTON, JAMAICA; February 19, 2025: In November 2024, Zelecia Smith sent her first monumental package — 170 Paris Ruby Gourmet fruitcakes to Florida. Paris Ruby Gourmet, Smith’s micro, home-based operation, has become an international export success story. Her inaugural shipment has placed her cakes on the shelves of Broward Meat and Fish Company in Margate, Florida, marking the culmination of a strategic business approach that began in 2019. Smith was among three winners of the MSME Business Pitch Competition, held as a part of the Ministry of Industry Investment and Commerce’s (MIIC) Montego Bay MSME Business Roadshow in October 2023. And her export achievement a year later is inextricably linked to her win. “Since winning the competition, we standardised our products and we were also able to plunge part of the funds into purchasing more raw materials to boost our production, which also allowed us to expand into more retails stores,” Smith shared. “We’ve received nominations for our entrepreneurial journey and contribution to the business community from prominent corporations.” The Montego Bay-based Paris Ruby Gourmet has a locally based distribution of fruitcakes, cheesecakes, bread puddings and banana bread at S Foods in New Kingston, Grand Depot Limited in Montego Bay and the Norman Manley and Donald Sangster international airports. Looking back, Smith said the pitch experience shaped and fuelled her passion even more for business and entrepreneurship. “The increased visibility from the [pitch] competition, with our new product now 98 per cent ready to be launched in 2025, the opportunities will be endless,” she revealed. “With all our successes gained from 2023-2024, we also encountered unexpected challenges that have shaped our focus for 2025 new approaches.” She lauded the Ministry’s role in her success and encouraged other entrepreneurs to utilise MIIC and its agencies’ resources. “It’s great that we are able tap into the support system of MIIC to help guide us forward. We are encouraging other small businesses owners to take advantage of this grant funding. Qualify yourselves and compete to gain your spot with these opportunities for your business growth. I have learned that grant funding helps to unlock new doors of opportunities for your business.” MIIC MSME Business Roadshow, presented in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), made the first of three stops in phase two of the project at the Twickenham Park Church of the Open Bible in Spanish Town on January 16, 2025. The last stop, in this second phase of the Roadshow, will be at St. Elizabeth Technical High School, Santa Cruz, on Thursday, March 6. To learn more about the MSME Business Roadshow series, visit roadshow.miic.gov.jm. Source: MIIC
August 31, 2022
A burning desire to symbolise the fulfilling of her parents’ dreams, a love for food, especially baked products, and building a legacy for future generations are the ingredients that have combined for Paris Ruby Gourmet. That’s the vision of Zelecia Smith, founder of Paris Ruby Gourmet, located at Overton Plaza in Montego Bay, St James. Smith describes this as a major achievement for her and a big step forward in advancing her dreams of being an international brand. This especially after leaving her job as a banker at a major commercial bank and deciding to go for her dreams. “In 2015, I decided a change was needed. This led to me trying to discover what skill I was good at and could take me to the level I wanted to be. I found that I loved cakes and cooking. So I decided to give it a try, started with fruitcakes and by the next year it was an official business for me. I really love cakes, and for me they must be enjoyable. At times I would go to the supermarket and the cakes from there just did not have a home feel or taste. So, I decided to create that for myself and I found that other persons enjoyed it just the same. The influences and my baking style I got from my grandmother, mother and a family friend, Ms Carmen, who did fruitcakes just the way I like it. I tweaked it, pulled from my grandmother’s recipe and created my own,” Smith stated. “This business means legacy, family, for me. I want to build it to where my daughter or son can take it over if they want to. My father was a woodworker and my mom wanted to own a flower shop as she loved flowers. Unfortunately, they didn’t get to realise their dreams to the fullest. My family has a history of baking cakes from my grandmother to mother and now me, that’s something I’m proud to carry on. The streaks in my logo signify wood, flowers for my mom and the Paris Ruby for the daughter I want to have, that can carry on the baking tradition. It’s past, present and future depicted in it,” Smith explained. Smith added further that she’s still experimenting in the kitchen as she continues to refine her two signature offerings, fruitcake and cheesecake. — Text & photos by Aceion Cunningham Paris Ruby Gourmet Address: Shop 7 Overton Plaza, Union Street, Montego Bay Tele: 876-223-8764 & Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 7:30 am to 7:30 pm; Saturdays 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and Sundays 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm IG: @parisrubycakes Website: www.parisruby.com https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/foodawards/2022/08/31/paris-ruby-gourmet
