Medical Disposables and Supplies (MDS) Ltd has further diversified its offerings with the addition of confectionery products to its consumer division.

In repositioning MDS as a distribution and marketing company, general manager of the company, Kurt Boothe told shareholders that while the company is “cautiously optimistic” about the impact on its bottom line from its new line of products, market trends indicate that confectionery sales continue to trend upward.

“It is not of primary interest to us to be the biggest company, but we certainly aim to be the best company in distribution. I will admit that there were other offers, but we are very particular about the brands that we carry,” Boothe told journalists during the company’s annual general meeting at Courtleigh Hotel in New Kingston.

“We saw niche areas in the market and, following the readings from our market intelligence, we saw that there is very good business in confectionery – high demand – and we choose this area as the next step,” he continued.

MDS now distributes the Colombia-based Aldor line of confectionery, which includes the Yogueta, Pin Pop, Chupetoon and Masti brands in hard candy and lollipops. While MDS continues its search for other opportunities, Boothe is adamant that the emphasis will not be placed on growth but on how the company manages it growth.

“Confectionery is just one area. We can’t drop the ball, we must maintain our core areas,” he said.

The distribution and marketing company will leverage improvements made in its storage capacity, staffing and distribution networks for its consumer division when it secures distribution contracts with United States-based technology company 3M and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

MDS, an islandwide distributor of health care and consumer products, has a catalogue that spans pharmaceuticals, vaccines, injectables, hospital supplies, medical disposable items, medical sundries, consumer products, and beauty items. Its consumer section was launched when MDS acquired the GSK consumer and was later expanded to include Drysol topical antiperspirant therapy and the Nipro ELISIO Dialyzer from the contract with 3M in June.

The company has since grown its distribution network to include supermarkets, pharmacies, haberdasheries and wholesales, all of which will be leveraged for the distribution of the Aldor confectionery line.

For the financial year ending March 31, 2018, MDS continued to grow its income and diversify profit sources, led by improved operational efficiency. Revenues of the company for the first time totaled $2.05 billion, growing by $331.4 million or 19.3 per cent over 2016/17.

The company has since promised to improve revenue performance, for the upcoming financial year 2018/2019, from the addition of products while keeping costs relatively constant.

Ultimately, MDS wants to align all revenue-generating areas of the business with the same efficiency as its pharmaceutical division, and has already begun the process with the “Thinking inside the Box” initiative which challenged the company to improve organisational structure, starting from the top.

Still, the company is challenged by loan facilities and managing receivables as it looks to expand and sell more products. MDS closed the 2018 financial year with assets of $1.4 billion over $1.2 billion. Liabilities also increased to $631.7 million compared to $449.3 million in 2017.