Hi everyone

I am new to this forum and my husband and I are thinking of moving to Belize(Ambergris Caye) the end of next year.
We have never been there but are planning a 2 month trip for next June or July.
We plan to live like a local during this time, meet locals and expats, do some research, and see if we like it.

We are too young to retire so we'd like to open a business. My husband has been a butcher for 20 years, I have been in the hospitality industry for 18 years also doing work in Special Events, and animal care.

I have done some research on butcher shops and agriculture of live stock etc but am unsatisfied with the little information I have come up with.

Can anyone tell me about this industry in Belize? Is butchering and meat consumption a growing industry? Is there a need for custom butchers?

We have a few ideas in mind already for a business but we are not sure just where the meat industry is going. We are thinking of starting a new kind of butcher shop but are just researching at the moment.

We both would still love to do what we love doing and have been doing for so long.

I look forward to anyone's input.
Although we are looking at San Pedro, we are open to other places. Once we go down there for a couple months I'm sure we will discover a lot more first hand.

Hi New and Curious,
I have traveled to Ambergris Caye several times and have family who relocated there from the U.S. They have written and published a book titled"The Tropics are Calling...and it's for You!"about their experiences getting legally established and gaining knowledge about what it takes to migrate there. This is only one of many resources for this info but I recommend reading it for it's valuable log of experience.It's available on Amazon and electronically on Amazon.com for Kindle and a few other options. I can find out what they are for you.

Please buy the Sausage Factory and get it up and running again...

http://www.sanpedrosun.com/old/03-044.html

Simon:

What happened to it?

This is great news for us because this kind of place is something similar to what we are discussing.

Thanks angelbear

Jim and Denise started it as a hobby but it started take over all of their time and they sold out a few years back. There's a long story about the buyer that's not really relevant, the buyer left and had it run locally (very well). After all the lawsuits were settled between the buyer and Jim and Denise the buyer came to town and shut the operation down. That deprived the island of our beloved Sausage Factory. It's not running now but there's a real market for something along those lines. If you could buy the equipment and start an operation it might be better than buying the operation. I don't even know if it's for sale but there is a niche that needs to be filled. There was a German butcher but that operation lasted only a few months before failure. Just one piece of advice, don't come in thinking all will be sunshine and rainbows, it won't. It takes hard work, a thick skin and loads of patience to make a business work here and you'll get very little support. Get past that and don't spend your life in the bars and it may work out, it usually doesn't.

Thanks!

I know it will be hard work and we are both very determined.
We have ideas in place that add a new twist and we believe it could work and we are willing to try!

I have a wee comment as an American about the butcher shop.My longest visit there was 4 1/2 mos. in '09/10. The sausage factory was fully operational then and was the only meat store that did'nt smell to high heaven and carried other choices besides chicken, chicken hot dogs and beef. The quality of the chick. and beef there is excellent. I believe it comes from the Mennonite farms on the mainland.However things like ham cured the way we are used to and sausages(I'm from Wisconsin)that resemble what we are familiar with are scarce!
My brother lives there and he just pines for a decent ham a couple times a year.Turkey is scarce and very expensive.
From what I gather, the most challenging part of moving there is the few mos. per year when there's just nobody visiting and therefore no money to be made by anyone!I believe the slow mos. are Aug.- Oct.
You will get 90% of your customers be expats. Most of the Belizeans there have very little money for specialty foods.
I'm not super in tune with what's currently available there, but I know what my brother tells me and he was sad to see the Sausage Factory close! So, GOOD LUCK!

Thanks angelbear

It will still be at least a year(hopefully sooner but doubt it) until we get all our ducks in a row and have enough research and knowledge under our belts.

A lot of info I have read online contradicts the other etc.

We can't wait to go down and spend at least a couple months there beforehand.

My husband is just thrilled about the whole idea and he just wants to do what he loves and what he does best!

We are well aware that we can't move down there and expect to make a fortune... That's not what we want or our purpose for doing this.

I appreciate all and any info I can get as it is very helpful.

My mouth is watering!! I loved the German Butcher Shop on Middle
street the way you guys love the sausage factory. Her liver sausage was to die for. Her pork chops were thick and delicious.
I'm not so much into spicy foods but they did make some mild sausages.
I don't know why a certain Brit took a disliking to her but he started bashing them on every internet media possible. As I said, I don't know the back story - but was so sad when they left.
It would be nice to have the sausage factory back up and running, but it would also be nice to have a small shop in town.