Cool Runnings: One Stop Shop for all things flavourful

Established in 1992, Cool Runnings has been in business for over thirty years and remains the one-stop shop for all things flavourful. The brand is particularly popular with Caribbean, Latin American, and African communities in Canada who want an extra kick in their food. Today, Cool Runnings has over 300 products, which include spices, seasonings, sauces, drinks, etc. First, however, everyone needs to know the business’s exceptional story. 

Cool Runnings is the brainchild of Paul, who started the business when he was just 15 years old. He would source barley flour and glucose locally before packaging and exporting it to Guyana and Caribbean nations like Trinidad and Tobago. He continued his business until he graduated from high school. It was then that Paul was presented with a difficult life decision. He could continue his education by attending University or make money by entering the real world. So naturally, he opted for the latter.

Knowing that his business had potential, he wanted to focus on his business and grow it as much as possible. However, years of business experience also taught him other valuable business lessons. For example, he learned that he knew his people and culture well, as he was from the Caribbean himself. Thus, Paul decided to export his products and also sell them locally. However, it would require him to drive around town to try and sell his product to different stores. 

The budding entrepreneur also realized that most customers would happily purchase glucose but didn’t show interest in barley flour because they didn’t know enough about it. After all, barley flour is popular in the Caribbean, but most people outside those cultures have never heard of it. It helped him understand that the market was too small for barley flour, and he saw that the growth would be limited. But things would change when he stumbled into an Indian spice shop. He saw they were selling spices in bulk, and a light bulb went off in his head.

He realized spices were significantly more popular and easier to sell. Hence, he decided to focus on packaging and selling spices and seasonings. However, it’s also no secret that selling products overseas is challenging because both the buying and selling parties must overcome bureaucratic red tape and other hurdles. Paul had already experienced this since he had exported his products for a while. Moreover, he had negative experiences with long sale times and waited months to receive payments. As a result, he decided to focus his attention on the local market. 

Canada, particularly Toronto, is home to a large Caribbean population. Paul was aware that Jamaicans were the city’s largest group of Caribbean people. In addition, they were more likely to purchase his products than the Guyanese and Trinidadians, who preferred to make homemade products. Thus, he decided to focus his efforts on the Jamaican demographics. He also identified them as the ideal consumer base because they were more willing to purchase spices and seasonings. 

Cool Runnings came about because it’s a popular term in Jamaica. Paul believed using a popular term would appeal to Jamaicans – his ideal market – and help increase sales. As a young immigrant from Guyana, Paul never thought he would be in his current position. After all, his father was a rice farmer, and his mother operated a stall at the local market, selling food and clothes. However, he’s a self-made entrepreneur today. Cool Runnings has a warehouse and office and employs over thirty people. Moreover, the company’s products can be found in big-box stores like Loblaws, No Frills, Wal-Mart, Metro, Food Basics, Sobeys, Freshco and many more.