Red Stripe Jamaica is this year’s winner of the Governor General’s Award for Manufacturer of the Year (sponsored by EXIM Bank). The award was especially relevant as the Heineken-owned company has recently returned its US-based manufacturing to Jamaica, after temporarily moving a part of its production to Pennsylvania in 2012.

The awards banquet, currently in its 49th year, brings together Jamaica’s small, medium and large manufacturers and awards them for innovation and excellence in a variety of areas. The event was held on Saturday at The Jamaica Pegasus in New Kingston.

Red Stripe beat two other competitors for the award – Wisynco and PA Benjamin.

According to the JMA, to be declared Manufacturer of the Year, the applicant goes through a rigorous quantitative and qualitative selection process which analyses and explores the company’s productivity, quality standards and certification, export operations, training and development of personnel, contribution to community development and environmental preservation, as well as achievements in research and development and continued innovation.

Red Stripe also walked away with a second award, The Robert Lightbourne Award for Competitiveness.

Meanwhile Seprod took the Prime Minister’s Award for Champion Exporter for large exporters.

PA Benjamin Manufacturing Co. Ltd may have missed the top award, but it did win several others, including the the Product Group Awards for Chemicals, Cosmetics & Pharmaceutical Products, the National Certification Body of Jamaica (NCBJ) Award for Quality and Standards, the Nicola Gordon-Rowe Buy Jamaican Award, and the Champion Exporter Award, JMA President’s Cup – Medium Exporter.

Other notable winners included Rainforest SeaFoods, who received the Vision 2030 Award for Corporate Social Responsibility and the Product Group Awards for Food & Agro Products; National Baking Company which won the award for Productivity; and Newport Fersan (Ja) which won the Breakthrough Product of the Year award with their Manni-Plex Liquid Fertiliser.

The Eddie Hall Award for New Manufacturer of the Year went to skin care company Ansel Development Ltd – Ettenio, while the Ray Hadeed Award for Best Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise went to Spur Tree Spices.

Boss Furniture Company Ltd took two prizes – The Product Group Awards for Furniture, Bedding & Wooden Products, and the Champion Exporter Award – Jamaica Promotions Corporation’s Award for Small Exporter. Those awards were collected by Omar Azan, CEO for Boss Furniture and the immediate past president of the JMA.

Other winners included Tritronic Electronics Ltd for the Product Group Award for Electrical, Electronic & Automotive Products, while Agri & Industrial Packaging Ltd won the Product Group Award for Printing, Packaging & Paper Products. AMECO won the Best Support Service Award.

– Hanniffa Patterson