JAMAICA Broilers (JB) will expand its range of ready-to-cook products.

A new multimillion-dollar Best Dressed further processing facility became operational last month.

The plant, which is located at Spring Village and which has a capacity to produce over 250,000 kilogrammes of specialty products per month, was established to offer easier and faster preparation for its customers, said Ian Parsard, the company’s senior vice-president of operations and finance.

Meanwhile, in Haiti, where it launched a joint venture in 2010 to provide feed, chicks, pullets, equipment, and technical advice to poultry farmers, the high demand for eggs has propelled JB to expand its egg production.

The company began its sale of table eggs there in September and since then has seen a heavy consumption of eggs, more so than actual chickens.

“We expect to grow our layer birds and table eggs, with hopes that it will turn over a majority of the company’s sales there,” Parsard said.

Initially set up to supply chicks and feed to the Caribbean country — at a cost of between US$2 million and US$3 million — it later began selling chilled, fresh chicken in the supermarkets there. “The volumes are small for that brand, “Le Chic Poulet,” Parsard said.

JB began producing its own chicken in the island in the summer.

“Jamaica Broilers products have been accepted, which has continued to grow the company’s customer base,” the group said in its financial statements.

Though too early to call, Parsard said its Ethanol division is expected to perform better than previous quarters in the near future.

JB is fully booked for the financial year, which ends April next year, and has ramped up ethanol production under tolling contracts to approximately 90 per cent of its 120-million-gallon-a-year capacity.

“We already have a number of contracts on the books that go into the financial year, beginning next May,” said Parsard.

For the remainder of the year, the ethanol facility is expected to operate at full capacity with the improvements in tolling rates, Parsard said.

Consequently, the biofuel maker posted a $42-million profit for the quarter.

During the quarter ended October 27, the group reported $6.1 billion in sales, five per cent more than the same period last year. This marginal increase came as a result of a very small movement in prices, Parsard said.

“It’s a challenging time overall, consumption isn’t as high as before,” said the company’s VP of finance.

Jamaica Broilers Group saw a slight decrease in its profit for the quarter, posting $150.7 million, $7.5 million less than it did during the same quarter last year. Increase in operational costs was one of the reasons for the profit dip, Parsard said.