Savory Kernels Honoured To Be Vendor For AC

Deshun Simmons is “very honoured” to have been selected as one of four ‘sweet cuisine’ Bermuda businesses in the America’s Cup Village.

Mr Simmons, along with business partner Wollette Smith, runs Savory Kernels, a gourmet popcorn retailer that has more than 70 flavours on its menu.

A relatively new business on the island, Mr Simmons said he believed the America’s Cup would be “a great opportunity to showcase” the business.

“This is an amazing experience for Bermuda and we feel very honoured to be chosen out of the many vendors that submitted documents,” Mr Simmons said. “We were hoping to be selected and saw that our product would be a good fit in bringing a unique item to the village. We were hopeful and excited to be a part of this momentous occasion.”

As with many vendors the process for being selected is a rigorous one, but one that Mr Simmons and Ms Smith were prepared to go through to be “part of such an amazing event”.

An email from one of their suppliers, Alastair Williams of Bermuda Automation Resources, alerted them to the application process, and it took them “less than five minutes” to decide they wanted to be a part of the 35th America’s Cup.

The reaction from family and friends has been nothing but supportive.

“We all know this is not just a great opportunity for us as a company but Bermuda as a whole; everyone is excited for us,” Mr Simmons said.

And while popcorn is at the heart of what the pair does, they are hoping that the exposure generated by the America’s Cup will allow them to expand in the future.

“We are hoping that this will afford us the opportunity to branch out into the new products that we have on our roadmap as well us showing locals, and tourists alike, what we have to offer with our gourmet popcorn and cotton candy,” Mr Simmons said.”

We believe that our products will also be familiar with a lot of visitors as many come into our shops and say it reminds them of a store that’s in their area that they visit often; it’s good to see familiarity when travelling.”

While Mr Simmons and Ms Smith have no plans to add any extra flavours for the Cup, they will add snowballs to their other offerings of cotton candy and popcorn. A trio they believe will be “a great combination”.

“The Cup, in our opinion, has afforded a lot of businesses, both large and small, a great opportunity with some already seeing additional revenue that might not have been there prior to the Cup,” Mr Simmons said.

“We have also seen, even with us, businesses having to hire additional part-time staff to get them through these last and next few months ahead. That additional income to these individuals has a ripple on effect which then impacts other businesses around the island.

“Think about the hotels, taxis, bike rentals, vacation rentals, etc. that have seen a positive influx of business leading up to and during the Cup; these are industries that haven’t seen numbers like this in a while which shows that Bermuda is hopefully, moving in the right direction.

“Bermuda is not only gaining a lot of international exposure from this event, but a lot of additional infrastructure that will be left at the end of this event. From technological infrastructure to improved land and buildings, things that may not have happened at all, or as quickly, without a push from the Cup.

“We are hoping that this exposure can show the world that although we are a small island, we have the means and the drive to support events of this magnitude and can support other events if they wish to utilize our island.”

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