JEROME Miles, general manager of Salada Foods, indicates that the group will roll out new products under the Roberts brand starting mid-2016 in a bid to recapture local market share.

In the interim, the older Mountain Peak products are being exported to the US where the brand still resonates with the diaspora. In addition, hotels and restaurants are being targeted for increased sales, he said.

Turnover for Salada for the December quarter was $188.6 million compared to $134.1 million for the comparable quarter in 2014.

Salada’s main business is the manufacture and sale of instant coffee and roasted and ground coffee beans.

Some 62 per cent of earnings during the December quarter came from hard-currency markets, with the company recording net income of $13.47 million compared to a loss of $541,000 in the December quarter, 2014. Company chairman Patrick Williams said the performance was “historic” in his preamble to the quarter’s financials.

Miles told the

Jamaica Observer that the US market continues to be its largest and most successful source of sales.

Sales to that market were 84.2 per cent of total export in the last financial year ending September 2015. Exports to the US grew 62 per cent in 2015, year over year.

Top performers locally and in the export market are Mountain Peak Coffee products followed by Mountain Peak Jamaican Instant Ginger Tea, the general manager said.

Mountain Peak Food Processors Ltd (MPFP) is the subsidiary of Salada Foods that owns and sells the Roberts brand of products which was acquired in 2012.

This Roberts brand has been out of the market for some time and requires rebuilding, Miles explained.

“The products currently under the brand are in competitive categories and therefore retaking market share is challenging,” he told the

Business Observer.

More marketing – both locally and abroad — is also planned for the products of Pimora, a subsidiary that makes and sells a speciality product made from compressed pimento leaves. The leaves are dried and compressed into round briquettes which are added to the coal in a barbecue or grill. The product can also be used in domestic or industrial ovens.

Miles noted, “This product is used to smoke meat to give it the authentic jerk flavour that is normally imparted by using pimento wood. The product is new and unknown in our market and it is getting some consumer interest.”

He adds, “We are very bullish on the prospects for Pimora particularly in export markets. Great interest is being shown and this should crystallise into orders when the warmer season comes around in the US. We are embarking on a PR and awareness campaign locally to raise awareness of the product.”

The amount to be spent on marketing and brand awareness was not disclosed. Miles said, “While I will not disclose the actual amount being spent, I will say that we are committed to making the investments required to making these brands successful.”

The first-quarter financials indicate that an overhaul is in progress at the loss-making operations of Mountain Peak Food Processors Limited in which Salada acquired 80 per cent in 2012 as part of a diversification strategy.

The company’s annual report notes that the manufacturing operations of MPFP were found to be antiquated and inefficient and so the manufacturing arm was closed and product sourced from third-party manufacturing partners. Some products will also be manufactured at Salada’s Bell Road factory.

Company-wide, Salada has implemented a plan to accelerate export sales by revamping overseas distribution efforts through fewer, but more effective distributors.

A sole distributor was appointed in January 2015 for the US East Coast. Locally, a strategy has also been developed with distributor Lasco to drive sales through retail and wholesale channels.