THE Jamaica Producers Group Limited (JP) is aggressively going after new markets and new opportunities in 2011 with plans that include expansion into mining, increased investment into plant and new machinery and a range of new products that include bammies and peeled green bananas.

The strategy was outlined by Group Chairman Charles J Johnston in the company’s December 31, 2010 end of year financial statements, for which the company posted net profit of $302 million — a $92 million increase over 2009.

Johnston said the challenges, a steady increase in raw material commodity prices, along with limited market growth and heightened competition, were proactively managed during the year, resulting in the improved performance of the group. As a result of the changing prices, JP has sought to renegotiate large scale, long-term contracts based on movements in raw material costs.

For 2011, even better results are expected, given the outlook for investments and new markets.

“Both JP Tropical and JP Europe have made investments in plant and machinery and business development that will allow us to differentiate our products from the market on the basis of superior quality and innovation and use this for the basis of entering new markets,” Johnston said.

This will see the company launch two new lines of products, bammies and peeled green bananas in the Caribbean markets this year. In Europe, JP will invest in new filling lines and juice processing technology, a move Johnston said should reduce waste across the factories and distribution systems.

“We expect that this will generate growth in our core market — the Netherlands — as well as strengthen our efforts to gain business in other Northern European countries,” he said.

JP invested $150 million to set up Four Rivers Mining Company, a joint-venture aggregate mining company aimed at further diversifying the conglomerate from agriculture last year as part of JP’s asset utilisation initiative. Four Rivers will extract and process construction aggregates on land in Jamaica and will combine the technical capabilities of Lydford Mining with access to idle farm lands owned by JP in St Mary.

“The plant was substantially ready for commissioning by the end of 2010 and is expected to contribute to revenues and profits in 2011,” said Johnston.

JP Europe was the top performer of 2010, accounting for 78 per cent of the combined revenues of JP. The segment, which produces and markets fresh juice in the Netherlands and neighbouring countries also saw a turnaround to profitability of the UK based logistics company through ‘aggressive cost management’.

JP Tropical Foods, the largest tropical snack producer in the Caribbean, accounted for 20 per cent of revenues, a two per cent decline compared with 2009. This was as a result of the sale of the banana farming business in Honduras, which Johnston said no longer met JP’s strategic objectives and rate of return criteria.

Buoyed by capital gains and controlled costs, the corporate segment saw an increase in profitability of 43 per cent to $81.8 million in 2010.

Johnston added that cost control and asset utilisation was a feature of the strategy in all aspects of the business.