Fruit juice manufacturer Trade Winds Citrus Limited (TWCL), which is just entering the local fresh milk market, is pushing to make Jamaica self-sufficient in that market, which is dominated by imports of upwards of 70 per cent.

TWCL, based in the plains of Bogwalk, St Catherine, is making its foray into the fresh milk market through its just-concluded acquisition of all the assets of milk, juice and drink manufacturer, Jamaica Beverages. Jamaica Beverages, which has been in receivership for the last two years, is well established in the chilled milk category for both plain and flavoured milk with its popular Dairy Farmers brand.

Speaking with Sunday Finance, managing director of TWCL, Peter McConnell, pointed out that Jamaica currently produces less than 30 per cent of the milk consumed.

With this reality, McConnell argued that, “there is plenty of opportunity for growth and development in this area. Our ultimate goal is to make Jamaica self-sufficient in fresh milk production which would include a network of dairy farmers, who can rely on TWCL as a good partner to not only buy their milk but provide technical support to continually improve.”

MILK PRODUCTION TO START IMMEDIATELY

TWCL is not allowing the ink to dry on the acquisition contract before its moves into milk production, particularly given the fact that the equipment purchased from Jamaica Beverages, such as the complete factory complex along with all the surrounding lands and buildings, can get production rolling right away. McConnell said that his company’s dairy farm, also located in Bog Walk, is where the raw material (milk) for the factory will be produced.

According to the TWCL boss, “we are not currently packaging milk at the TWCL factory, so the equipment purchased will allow us to package and sell milk immediately. We plan to continue purchasing milk from all the existing dairy farmers that supply milk to Jamaica Beverages and hope to develop long-term relationships with them”.

McConnell stressed that “the relationship will be mutually beneficial, because as newcomers to that industry, we need to learn from them, but as we implement and perfect the new technologies that we plan to deploy, we will share our experience with them in order to increase their productivity and profitability”.

EYEING THE MILK BUSINESS FOR A WHILE

TWCL has been eyeing the fresh milk business for at least three years and even started the processing of building out a dairy farm to enter the market. McConnell admitted that while TWCL has been interested in entering the market, it was held back by the dramatic shortage of locally produced fresh milk.

“While we could have launched earlier, we did not want to go into the business using only imported milk powder, so we have invested in a dairy farm that will have over 250 milking cows by next year. This acquisition (Jamaica Beverages assets) fits into this diversification plan by providing us with a well-known dairy brand, Dairy Farmers along with the know-how, equipment, route to market, etc. which will dramatically reduce our learning curve,” McConnell explained.

The TWCL MD said there would be a retooling/capital investment in factory. “The factory complex is old and underutilised, but it is well designed and well-built, but over time the plan going forward is to utilise it to its full potential, but for the short term we will operate it ‘as is’. “