ST CATHERINE, Jamaica — Wisynco Group Limited are anticipating over 60 per cent increase in export revenue for their BIGGA Soft Drink during the first half of 2021 from shipments to the United Kingdom (UK).

This, the company said, is based on its recent shift of its manufacturing operations from the UK to Jamaica, capitalising on the overall 34 per cent growth in BIGGA’s UK sales for the fiscal year 2020 — BIGGA’s largest sales volume in Europe, to date.

“It’s a proud moment for Wisynco and the brand because BIGGA is an all-Jamaican product and will contribute more to the economy through increased local production. The business is strong and this is a very strategic move for us as we have expanded our manufacturing facility over the years and have brought BIGGA’s overseas production back home to Jamaica where it belongs,” Wisynco CEO Andrew Mahfood said.

Wisynco’s Group Export Manager, Stephen Dawkins, highlighted that the numbers are quite impressive.

“Our projections indicate that this will push export revenue well over the JMD$600 million mark. These developments are in keeping with Wisynco’s overall growth in recent years,” Dawkins said.

Wisynco reported more than $32 billion in revenue for the year ending June 30, 2020, approximately $5 billion more than the corresponding period in 2019; equating to consistent double-digit revenue growth in the last three years alone, the company said. It added that the relocation of factory processes comes on the heels of some 35 to 40 per cent recorded energy savings since the July 2020 implementation of Wisynco’s two-megawatt liquefied natural gas (LNG) and solar plants.

With shipments already off to the UK being distributed by Grace Foods UK, Dawkins added that the move to amalgamate all production of BIGGA products in Jamaica — for local and global fulfilment — will result in reduced manufacturing costs, stemming from the fact that “the more you produce on a line, the less it costs”.

According to the company, the demand for numerous product flavours in the United States of America (USA) and the UK began some 16 years ago when the local production capacity of the brand was miniscule, which led to the company outsourcing manufacturing needs to entities in the USA and the UK. It said the demand for flavours such as fruit punch, pineapple, grape, Jamaica kola and ginger beer has since extended to other European countries, namely Sweden and Holland with over 3,000 cases shipped on a monthly basis.

Mahfood explained that, “After continued growth and investment, and continued expansion of our local production capacity, licenced manufacturing in the US [BIGGA’s fastest growing market] was moved to Jamaica in 2016, prior to the more recent February 2021 transition from the UK.”

He also outlined that the company has done its due diligence and risk analysis which not only anticipates revenue growth and savings from shifting the UK manufacturing processes to Jamaica, but that even with industry challenges, increased European demand for the BIGGA line of products will be met.

Mahfood said the company is continuing its strategy of managing expenses in selling, distribution and administrative channels and preparing optimistically for what Wisynco projects as a major recovery once the world normalises and moves away from the COVID-19 pandemic.