A Jamaica Producer (JP) led consortium has been tipped as the preferred bidder to acquire the Mavis Bank Coffee Factory (MBCF), according to key sources.

Concurrently, MBCF launched its decaffeinated Blue Mountain coffee brand representing a US$7 million ($599 million) investment aimed to grow sales for the new investors.

The deal requires parliamentary approval but would make JP the largest producers of bananas and coffee in the island. JP earned some $302 million in annual net profit in 2010 on $5.6 billion in revenues. In recent years the conglomerate has diversified its operations to include mining and chip manufacturing. The Business Observer messaged by phone JP head Jeffrey Hall, who did not respond with comment up to print.

Yesterday, Christopher Tufton, Minister of Agriculture told media and stakeholders that an announcement would be made by month end.

“In a week or two we will announce the new investors in the Mavis Bank brand,” Tufton stated at the launch of the decaffeinated Blue Mountain coffee offered in both whole and ground beans.

Experts yesterday declined to give quoted details in order to respect the pending release of an official statement.

“We have heard the same, but it needs parliamentary approval so anything can happen,” one impeccable source stated. JP’s crop assets do not include coffee based checks on its annual report. A rival bidder stated that JP’s greatest asset was its wide distribution network in Europe and the US via its fresh fruit juices. JP has some $4.9 billion in total equity, towering above its rival bidders, including Salada Foods makers of Mountain Peak and a consortium, which includes the Sharp family — producers of Clydesdale, Coffee Traders and Cafe Blue.

Yesterday, Senator Norman Grant managing director and CEO of MBCF stated that the decaf investment would grow the recession hurt coffee drinkers market.

“Its worth US$7 million and we expect that over time we will sell this amount off,” he stated of the decaf brand.

Grant in his address stated that coffee increases sex drive. He quipped that his wife asked him to reduce his coffee intake following the birth of his children exactly nine-months apart.

“So it works,” he said.

MBCF is located in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica and sells a variety of roasted products under its signature Jablum label. The Development Bank of Jamaica Limited (DBJ) extended the deadline for the submission of bids for the privatisation of Government’s interest in the MBCF to March 2011, in order to facilitate the “overwhelming interest by potential investors”, said the DBJ in a release. Government is seeking investors to undertake the financing, development, operation and management of the business.

Coffee, the island’s second largest crop export earner, (behind sugar) already saw its export earning down nearly half year-on-year to US$17.4 million ($1.5 billion) over eight months to August 2010 according to the latest data. MBCF produces nearly half of the total exports. The ongoing recession in Japan has resulted in the reduced pace of purchases and also the reduction in the price at which it is sold. The regulator, the Coffee Industry Board (CIB), has facilitated promotions by US-based Starbucks and also in China with Hangzhou City Coffee and Western Cuisine Association to attenuate the decline.