BEDESSEE IMPORTS LTD.

Welcome to Bedessee Imports Ltd. - Florida Division

Ravi Bedessee

Address:
4000 N.W. 12th St.
Lauderdale, Florida
USA, 33313

PHONE # (954) 583-3700
FAX # (954) 583-8229

LAST UPDATED : JULY-21-2004

NEIGHBORHOOD GROCER: Ravi Bedessee owns Bedessee East-West Indian Foods. His customers, who originally hailed from the West Indies, African and Central and South America, come to stock up on food from their native countries.

A TASTE OF HOME
Lauderhill store stocks its shelves with exotic fare and memories
By BRUCE TAYLOR SEEMAN - Herald Staff Writer

Pickled pig snout is a popular item at Bedessee's. So is black pudding, goat meat and corned mutton, but George Maynard has come for tennis rolls. He wants two bags. "They're good with peanut butter," says the insurance auditor from Guyana, speaking with deep earnestness about the sweet, lemony bread. "And cheese. Oh, man."

Since opening as a neighbor-hood grocery three years ago, Bedessee East-West Indian Foods in Lauderhill has become a source of hometown food for transplants from around the world. Customers bring appetites from the West Indies, Central and South America, Jamaica, Trinidad, Suriname, Belize, Haiti, Barbados and Antigua. Others hail from Africa or other far away spots.

Mark Albert, also from Guyana, regularly shops the aisles for exotic vegetables, oil, fish and tonics. Specialty food stores like Bedessee's allow him to avoid the perils of American fast food, he says. "I always preferred the West Indian food," says Albert, who has avoided hamburgers for 15 years. "I feel it's more nourishment, fresher."

Ravi Bedessee, the 30-year-old owner of Bedessee's, 4060 NW 15th St., says his business dates back to his grandparents. They sold food from a house on stilts in Guyana - Village No. 59. The family's international food business has sprouted wholesale warehouses in Toronto and New York City.

Article from Florida Newspaper