From plantation to Black-owned legacy: How Shadel Nyack Compton transformed Grenada’s Belmont Estate into a must-visit destination
A former lawyer revived her family’s crumbling estate, turning it into a thriving Black-owned agricultural and ecotourism hub. Now, she wants more Black Americans to experience Grenada’s history and culture.
When Shadel Compton Nyack left her native country of Grenada for Howard University decades ago, her life plan was pretty clearly mapped out– graduate college from the storied HBCU, go on to law school, and pursue a career as an attorney.
But life has a funny way of shaking up the best-laid plans.
“I really… was not an entrepreneur at heart, was not a farmer, and not an agronomist,” Compton Nyack told theGrio in an interview on the island. “I went to law school. I did not anticipate that I would be doing this business, that I would have left my life in the U.S. to come back and work on a farm to try to transform this farm.”
She’d grown up on a farm named Belmont Estate that had a dark past– it formerly served as a profitable plantation on the island of Grenada — until her Indo-Grenadan ancestors bought it back. Despite their positive intention, through old age they’d let the grounds fall into disrepair. Compton Nyack saw an opportunity.
“I had the passion and knew that I wanted to preserve this business that was so important in Grenada for many decades. And that provided economic stability, that provided jobs.”
Compton Nyack saw the grounds that once produced chocolate and other produce and thought they could be grown again for tourism purposes. She set about turning the estate into a university-like environment that trained local residents in the production process for crops, along with the operations of the business and tourism aspects of the land.
“When I took this on, it was just a farm, and it was a dying farm too,” she tells theGrio. “We probably had about ten staff here at the time. Now we have 100 persons working with us. We’re about 86% of women, and we are 75% women managers.”
The farm just celebrated its 80th anniversary and overcame the setbacks of having large portions of the land destroyed after two major hurricanes and a pandemic shutdown. Belmont Estate offers tours that showcase how their organic chocolate is produced from start to finish, giving visitors (including theGrio) a chance to hold the cacao pods to dried beans to cocoa nibs, then paste, which eventually becomes chocolate.
Visitors at Belmont Estate then get to visit the delicious-smelling production room where the paste is transformed into chocolate bars while sampling the final product and purchasing gifts for home.
In addition to the chocolate tour, visitors can sample goat cheese produced on the farm and eat farm-to-table lunch on the grounds.
The rich history and current transformation of the Grenadan land is something Compton Nyack wants more African American travelers to enjoy.
“When I got into this business of agritourism here, we weren’t seeing too many African Americans,” she tells theGrio. “It was mostly Europeans, of course, English. And then our U.S. numbers started to go up. Then suddenly, I started seeing African Americans coming and it was just always a nostalgic moment. They’re always happy to see that a Black woman owns this business and is continuing the family legacy.”
“I’m happy to see that African Americans are spending their dollars in the Caribbean, having an appreciation for our history and culture, and for so many areas in which we have commonalities… and just really developing a greater sense of pride,” Compton Nyack reflects.
Black leadership in business is a common thread that goes beyond the borders of the Black diaspora. It’s one Shadel Compton Nyack hopes inspires new generations of entrepreneurs, especially Black people, and women in particular, to draw hope from in tourism industries that sometimes feel exploitative.
“They come here and they see that we are a Black country, that we have Black leadership, that there are Black people in business,” she says. “So many…local entrepreneurs, especially here in Grenada. I think the dynamics here in Grenada are different than in many other islands. And African Americans appreciate that.”
For anyone who wants to take a jump into the unfamiliar, Compton Nyack offers this encouragement:
“I say go for it. You know, once you have that inspiration, that vision, and that passion—you must have that first—go for it. Enjoy the process. It should be fun. It should make you feel gratified. And as much as possible, ensure that your project, your business, is making a difference in the life of others.
For me, that’s the greatest joy—that I’m developing people here. We are supporting the community. We are trying to help people to take better care of the environment. So all these things give you a great sense of purpose and satisfaction, and you can make a difference in your world.”
