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One man who did grow with him was Bowen and Bowen Senior Executive Hilly Martinez. He’s been working at the company for 35 years and was very close to Sir Barry who was his boss, but also his friend. Today Martinez told us that while it is hard for all one thousand plus employees in the Bowen business empire to continue as normal today – that is what Sir Barry would have wanted.

Hilly Martinez, Friend & Employee
“Jules it is very difficult but business will continue as usual which is what Sir. Barry would have loved to see continue and it will continue and it will continue growing. But it is difficult individually and for all our staff who have been working with him, people who know him. He has touched so many people personally and so it is kind of difficult but we know life continues.

Visionary wise he was the one who did it and he didn’t just jump into stuff Jules. Like in various other things the shrimp farm, he got all the necessary studies, all the people who knew about it to come in and do it, they studied artificial insemination in Gallon Jug coffee. So he didn’t just jump in; he visualized it, got into the details, and he was very detailed.

One of his major stuff was that we had to have quality products. That was first in his mind, quality product, and we must give excellent service, quality services. I am not sure if you have been to the shrimp farm or Gallon Jug but everything there like I said top of the line, everything is clean, clean; you go to the brewery, you could have your lunch on the floor. That was him, he wanted everything to be perfect.

The company was started by his father in the 1930s and then in 1961 they got the license to do Coca Cola on the franchise but because of Hurricane Hattie it was delayed until March of 1962 and in 1971 they introduced the beer along with some foreign investors but he bought out the foreign investors in 78. Sir Barry bought out the investors in 1978 and so at that time he became the sole owner of everything in the organization and that is when everything started to grow. We got into all kinds of products, his vision was just above and beyond most of us.”

The Bowen business empire is built on the bedrock of the beverage company which includes all Cocoa Cola products Crystal Water and juices Belikin Beer and Stout, Lighthouse Beer, Guinness Stout.

Then there’s the Belize Estate and Produce Company, Belize Aquaculture Limited, which also sells energy to BEL, and Gallon Jug Agro Industry which produces cattle, lumber, coffee, jams, jellies and the eco – friendly resort, Chan Chich – where Bowen also built a village and a school for his employees and their children. Bowen also managed a 130,000 acre tract of land in the Gallon Jug area which is a prime conservation zone and where hunting is not permitted. That area alone is bigger than Barbados.

And while that’s a number of companies, operations and acres,– the number that most regular folks care about is the rake that many say Sir Barry gave them on Friday night. His age 64 played in the Friday night boledo which was widely purchased leading to big winning for many Belizeans. Tune in tomorrow night, when we’ll have full coverage of his funeral and the procession through the city.