Experience

I first came to the Virgin Islands in 1969 and one of my first endeavors was distributing fresh bread flown in from Puerto Rico every morning at 5am. I delivered this 'hot out of the oven' bread to various restaurant and retail stores. In 1983 I opened my Yacht Haven store in the former Ramada Hotel where the current Yacht Haven Grande complex is located. We were destroyed by Hurricane Marilyn in 1995 and shortly afterward I re-opened in Crown Bay Marina. In 1998 I took over the location in Havensight Mall and have offered the same services since that time. In 2002, we expanded the Crown Bay location by 35% to support the growing needs of the yachting community. This year we are excited to be expanding our Havensight location to better serve our customer.

Selection

My first business taught me the difficulties in transporting perishable food products to a small island located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I became acutely aware of the need to develop relationships with suppliers on the mainland who I could rely on to send me what I wanted in an 'on time' schedule. We have worked with some of our suppliers for over 25 years. Where necessary, I have developed relationships with wine importers who can supply me with those 'hard to find' or 'allocated' wines not available here locally.

Service

Our focus has been on service and selection to the community and to the Yacht Provisioning community since coming to this island in 1961. I learned the value of 'service' to my customer from my first business delivering hot bread. Bread delivered in the afternoon was neither 'hot' nor 'fresh'.

We try to maintain and hire a staff that enjoys food and is knowledgeable about cooking and the various ingredients that are necessary to prepare meals from the straightforward to the 'sublime'. We have staff to help you to select the right wines to pair with the chef's special dinner or to satisfy the most wine-savvy connoisseur.

We bring products to our stores by boat where a 4 day ocean trip is not detrimental to the quality of the product and by air where 'freshness' is measured in hours. And, we get it to your location anywhere on this Island when you want it.

I feel we are uniquely qualified, staffed and stocked to fulfill the requirements of your most demanding and sophisticated guests. This has been our challenge and goal for over 25 years. I personally work with longtime customers and will be available to guide you through our stores and, if need be, source any product you need that we don't have on our shelves.

Sincerely,

Zakaria A. Suid

President, Gourmet Gallery