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The National Entrepreneurship Development Company's (Nedco) 2024 Green Entrepreneur awardee is focused on being "intentionally" environmentally conscious, using innovative ways not only to overcome challenges but also to operate with minimal carbon footprint, even helping reduce the country's footprint.
Founder of Tropi-Mulch Ltd, Lionel Seucharan, 58, was among eight entrepreneurs to receive accolades at Nedco's third National Entrepreneurship Awards on August 3 at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain. According to Nedco's website, the award encourages micro and small enterprises to adopt environmentally sustainable practices, such as recycling, waste reduction and water, energy and building materials efficiency, which lead to a reduced environmental impact, as well as economic gains.
Awards were also given in the categories of Technology-Driven Entrepreneur, Innovative Entrepreneur, Youth Entrepreneur, Female Entrepreneur, Male Entrepreneur, Culture Entrepreneur and Nedco Client Entrepreneur.
The theme for the awards was Exploring Horizons which, the website said, highlighted local entrepreneurs who continue to experience not just growth and success but continue to provide "amazing and innovative solutions to the local and international markets."
Like its name suggests, the company specialises in locally made mulch products but also carries a wide range of items for agriculture and landscaping. This includes various plants, substrates, manure, compost, decorative stones and snail repellent. Its factory is based in Tabaquite and sells product to over 40 shops across both islands.
Seucharan said his passion for green practices and environmental care is something engrained in his DNA.
"It is part of my being. Since I've know myself I've always had that love for nature, that love for the environment.
"It was engrained in me, I would say, from the previous generations (like) grandparents and stuff to have care for the environment and for wildlife and stuff."
Nedco's influence
Seucharan credited Nedco with his success, particularly because of its grants and training. He said he was introduced to the organisation in 2013 when his business was in its infancy and struggling. With a background in teaching, he said he had no idea how to run a business. This is where he said Nedco's influence helped.
[caption id="attachment_1102449" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The range of products produced by Tropi-Mulch Ltd, Tabaquite. - Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]
"We have had quite a good relationship with Nedco over the last few years. A lot of their boot camps we've been attending, some of their social media management events on how to register a business, how to get involved in marketing, digital marketing, how to use Canva and all of these other platforms. In addition to that, we've been able to get some of the grants during covid.
"This award is recognition we are very grateful for because we have been in the trenches for 14 years. When we started off here...there were very few companies in this arena with us."
The circular economy
Created in 2011, Seucharan estimated his company repurposed at least 250,000 metric tonnes of wood waste that would have been indiscriminately burnt or dumped. His business model thrives in the circular economy. With his family's heritage in sawmilling since 1956, Seucharan is no stranger to the amount of waste created in converting logs into usable lumber, estimating about 30 per cent is unused.
"A log is cylindrical. You have to shave off the four sides to get that log square before you can extract sellable lumber from it. So that is what we are capturing, that waste. If a sawmiller has to take that waste, he has to now go down the road to convert it to mulch, most people did not have that vision."
"What they were doing at the time, the only part of the waste that was being captured in a sawmill was the sawdust as chicken litter. Everything else was burnt or dumped or somebody came in to salvage something for a pig pen, a goat pen. So all that waste was captured by us – what you call the first cut, second cut, your edging and when you trim the edge off boards."
He currently acquires unusable wood from his family's three sawmills and others in the Rio Claro area to create about 40,000 bags of mulch annually. Most times, he said, the mills are happy to get rid of the waste for free but other times he said a small fee is charged.
Environmentally-friendly operation
While his business model focuses on reducing wood waste, Seucharan's operation also employs environmentally-friendly practices. For instance, his factory's walls have large mesh allowing significant light in which reduces its dependence on lighting. Furthermore, he said the factory also employs many "old school" practices which do not require the use of electricity or fossil fuels and aren't financially restrictive.
"That box, we dry pet bedding there. We have some other boxes up the road where we use galvanise to capture the heat and dry your products.
[caption id="attachment_1102448" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Anthurium Substrate at Tropi-Mulch Ltd, Tabaquite - Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]
"There are a lot of old-school processes we are reincorporating into the system. You don't have to spend much money for that and you can get plenty of bang for the buck, and keep the money for innovative processes going forward."
To further reduce environmental impacts, he said his products are packaged with eco-friendly, plant-based plastic bags and printed paper labels which he is currently reevaluating. He said depending on their customers, the label is forgone in favour of a simple piece of cardboard stapled to the bag. For large orders, he said the mulch isn't even placed into a bag.
Seucharan said they are able to reduce their carbon footprint in what he called a "transport share solution."
"A lot of motorists coming out of Tabaquite every day. Everybody now is fixated with a Hilux, or a BT-50 or a Navara but it's just one person or two persons in the vehicle and all that cargo space in the back. I find out 'Where you going, where you heading?' 'Arima? Port of Spain? Would you mind carrying down a few bags of mulch every other day?'
"We pay for gas for you, you get some mulch for home, you get a cash prize."
He said this was born out of necessity during the pandemic after their truck was seized. Now, he said, they only hire transport to fill very large orders.
He currently imports dyes for his mulch but said they are currently working to develop their own dyes from rust and charcoal acquired locally.
Eye on exports for the future
Apart from servicing the local market, he said up to a third of his annual mulch product is exported to Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua. He believes the regional market is ripe with potential for his product, especially as many islands' economies are tourism-dependent.
"We looking at not just supplying our 40 per cent market share in Trinidad. We looking at extending that and we have the entire Caribbean which is hospitality founded. The market research has been done through ExportTT and we know that all of these markets are hotels, resort chains and they depend on well-manicured surroundings."
[caption id="attachment_1102447" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Bromelaid Substrate at Tropi-Mulch Ltd, Tabaquite - Photo by Lincoln Holder[/caption]
However, he admitted his emerging operation is not yet large enough to service these markets.
"There's potential for a lot more but we have to build capacity else it's suicide."
Seucharan projects if they can secure a $3.5 million investment to build capacity and make their operation more efficient, they could conservatively produce around 250,000 bags of mulch annually with around half being exported.
Until he builds this capacity and introduces some automation, he admits the business will not be able to see significant profits.
In the short term, he said the company is hoping to introduce seven new products whose prototypes are already being tested. However, he was not yet willing to say what the products were. Additionally, he said they are hoping to get some of their non-mulch products into the regional territories they already serve.
In the long term, he said he wants to further build on the circular economy model by exploring other types of waste that can be turned around into value added products.
Giving back, education
Through its community outreach programme, Tropi-Mulch Ltd has donated over 2,000 metric tonnes of mulch to schools, places of worship, and community groups. He said the company also partners with the University of the West Indies to sponsor the landscape degree programme, providing mulch for all final-year students. He said they also participate in workshops through La Souce Landscaping where he shares knowledge about mulch and his product.
Now that he's won the award, he said they will be a Nedco ambassador for the next year. While they are yet to meet with the company to chart a way forward with this, he said he hopes to be able to mentor young entrepreneurs.
"We would very much like to be able to address young entrepreneurs coming behind us to be able to tell them our story and also to be able to make them aware of some of the pitfalls, the trials (and) the tribulations. It's not an instant quick fix to have your own business and to make a lot of money.
"It's not a smooth road. It's nice to know you have your own business...it have days where I am a teacher, I am a businessman (and) I have no money in my pockets, or no money in my account that I could go and grab and you have to face those challenges, you have to look beyond them, you have to keep your eyes on the vision and you have to keep the grind going."
 
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