Mandeville, Manchester — In 1976, Central Agricultural Supplies Company Limited (CASCO) opened its doors in Mandeville.

Known in the early days for products including animal feeds and fertilisers, it has transitioned more into “small engine” equipment for commercial and domestic purposes.

The company has however maintained its foundation in agriculture and still carries related products and services to benefit those in the sector.

With now only one store, which is located in Mandeville but with an islandwide reach, CASCO, according to the operators of the business, depends heavily on a relationship with dealers across Jamaica in order to meet customer needs.

Dorothy Clarke, one of the proprietors in the family-run company, told the Jamaica Observer Central that her organisation is the sole distributor in Jamaica for most of the brand equipment that is stocked.

The relationship between CASCO and its dealers, she said, is “very important” to the business.

At a 40th anniversary customer appreciation day in Mandeville recently, three of those dealers were publicly recognised.

Junction Farm Store in St Elizabeth was awarded as the longest-standing customer, Tools and Parts Supplies Limited in Montego Bay as the highest purchaser to date, and Dennis Power Tools in Westmoreland for being the fastest-growing dealer.

Supervisor of Junction Farm Store, Marlene Wellington, spoke of a business relationship which spans more than twenty years, and one she describes as “efficient” and “friendly”.

Ray Barnes of Tools and Parts Supplies said that his company distributes a lot of the products of CASCO, and the partnership has been forged for almost all of the seventeen years that the company has been in operation.

Clarke said that her company is keen on continued growth and in further exploring the agriculture sector.

“Agriculture is the way forward,” she told Observer Central, adding that the plan for expansion in coming years is expected to go beyond Jamaica into the wider Caribbean.

— Alicia Sutherland