Best Product 2017 Nominee: West Indies Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Liqueur & West Indies Jamaican Rum Cream Liqueur
The Team:
Rick Anand, president, RJ Rums & Spirits Ltd.
Christine Messado, operations manager, KRB Lea
Jamaica Rum (manufacturer for RJ Rums & Spirits, Royal Jamaican Rums)
John O Minott JP, general manager, Jamaica Standard Products (manufacturer for RJ Rums & Spirits)
E-mail: messadomedia@gmail.com
Address: 69-75 Constant Spring Road, Kingston 10
We created this product because… there was a need for a premium Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Liqueur that is locally grown and produced in Jamaica. With the world’s finest coffee Jamaica Blue Mountain on our doorstep, we felt the need to show the rest of the world what Jamaica has to offer. In addition, we felt the market had space for a premium local rum cream.
The major challenge is… local taxation is causing our pricing to escalate almost on a yearly basis. We need an environment that makes consumers want to spend money.
The products are available at…:John R Wong SupermarketSovereign SupermarketBrooklyn SupermarketLee’s SupermarketProgessive Group of SupermarketsNK WholesaleGeneral FoodsHiLo Supermarkets (select)Jamaica Standard Products – Store Locations:Coffee & Spice – Shoppes at Rose HallCoffee & Spice – Montego Bay Cruise Ship TerminalIsland Brew Café – Ocho Rios Cruise Ship PierIsland Brew Café – Falmouth PierDuty-Free Stores at entry and exit ports:Montego Bay – DufryKingston – TM TradersFalmouth – DufryOcho Rios – Cruise BoozeOcho Rios – DufryGift Stores:Select gift stores on the North Coast (Montego Bay & Ocho Rios)
The response to the products has been… extremely positive. We are about to expand to different size bottles and to introduce a line of miniatures.
Our target market is… any person who likes a quality product and recognises West Indies Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee/Rum Cream Liqueur as a world-class product.
We plan to grow the business to become… Our objective is to have all Jamaicans, regardless of where they live and their economic status, regard West Indies Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee/Cream Liqueurs as a premium quality product.
Our first breakthrough came when… we received a favourable response from the Montego Bay Duty-Free store. They tend to have high standards in product packaging and quality and typically require a large demand for product. Sales have been growing since and we are planning to expand internationally.
Jamaicans should support our products because… we have collaborated with the best manufacturers to ensure the best products. Jamaica Standard Products (JSP), the manufacturer for the Blue Mountain Coffee Liqueur, has been in the coffee business for over 75 years. JSP is a large contributor to the local economy with both domestic and international sales. We are proud to collaborate with JSP, who is “Proudly Jamaican”, and plan on continuing with their long family traditions of producing some of the world’s finest coffees.
Our products are successful because…we take pride in making sure our quality throughout the entire manufacturing process is always maintained.Six-Step Process– Coffee roasting– Extract coffee from the beans– Mix rum and extract to make a concentrate– Age concentrate– Mix all ingredients (concentrate, water, vanilla, cane sugar)– BottleAll-natural flavours and real Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee with local rum in every bottle.
If we knew then what we know now… we would not have waited to introduce the product to the domestic market.
