Joe Pires ’82: Rooted in Ridley, Growing Across the Caribbean

Alumni Feature

When Joe Pires ’82 arrived at Ridley in 1979, he was 15 years old and had never experienced a Canadian winter. Nearly five decades later, he leads one of the Caribbean’s most significant agricultural businesses, serves as New Zealand’s honorary consul in Trinidad and Tobago and remains deeply connected to the School that shaped his early years.

After graduating from Ridley and completing his university studies, Pires joined Caribbean Chemicals in 1986. Founded by his father, the company became his responsibility after his death. Joe and his older brother inherited the business, dividing leadership responsibilities between Trinidad and Guyana.

Today, Caribbean Chemicals is the largest agricultural chemical company in the Caribbean, serving markets from Cuba and the Bahamas to Barbados and South America. Through acquisitions in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic and a recent expansion into Suriname, the company supplies insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and other crop-protection products across the region.

Joe is particularly proud of the company’s network of approximately 85 agronomists, who provide free advice to farmers every day.

“Logically, we recommend our product,” he says with a laugh, “and hopefully they come back and buy it.”

He also leads an investment holding company with interests ranging from restaurants and farms to gas stations and boat building. Together, his businesses employ about 600 people. The company is aptly named Ridley Investments — its name and orange-and-black branding are intentional tributes to the school. Looking ahead, Pires hopes to begin listing the group on the local stock exchange in 2027.

One of the company’s most innovative projects addresses the annual influx of sargassum seaweed that washes onto Caribbean shores. Working with researchers from New Zealand and the University of the West Indies, Caribbean Chemicals is helping develop and manufacture agricultural biostimulants derived from the seaweed, turning an environmental challenge into a commercial opportunity.

That partnership also recently led to another role. After working closely with Joe, New Zealand’s High Commissioner invited him to become the country’s honorary consul in Trinidad and Tobago. As a former captain of Ridley’s rugby team and a big fan of New Zealand’s “All Blacks” squad, he readily accepted. Today, he supports trade relations, assists New Zealand citizens living in Trinidad and Tobago and facilitates cultural and sporting exchanges between the two countries.

Despite his Caribbean base of operations, Ridley remains central to his life. A former member of the Board of Governors, Joe has actively advocated for Caribbean students and families during his tenure. Today, he interviews prospective students in Trinidad and sits on the board of the International School of Port of Spain, where his young son is a student.

Pires plans for his son to attend Ridley one day and has already introduced him to campus through Ridley’s summer programmes.

“The friendships are lifelong,” he says. “To this day, my closest friends are my friends from Ridley.”

Whether leading businesses across the Caribbean or representing New Zealand, Joe continues to carry Ridley with him, proving that the School’s influence extends far beyond campus and across generations.