Jamaica Producers Group (JP) recorded a strong performance for the 39-week period that ended October 2, 2021.

JP increased year-to-date revenues by 21 per cent relative to the prior year and surpassed the 2019 revenues by 17 per cent. For the 13-week period ended October 2, 2021 — the end of the company’s 3rd quarter — the Group increased revenues by 24 per cent relative to the same period in 2020.

JP says the revenue performance in 2020 “was adversely impacted by the disruption to business activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several markets continued to experience limitations or ‘lockdowns’ on some economic activity during 2021”.

According to JP Group CEO Jeffrey Hall, “The revenue growth experienced across the Group demonstrates the quality of the product and service lines and the resilience of the food and beverage conglomerate’s diverse portfolio of interests. We delivered strong and positive results, but — importantly — our team members also rallied to keep our workplace safe and resilient. Our global workforce is over 80 per cent vaccinated, and our commitment to doing our part to contain the pandemic is serious, robust and demonstrable.”

He continued, “JP is determined to come out of the pandemic stronger than it went into it.”

The JP Group CEO said the entity is pursuing an acquisition strategy, in the Caribbean and Europe, that will give it a series of bold new platforms for growth. New opportunities are also being pursued in the Dominican Republic and Spain which the JP Group said have “significant untapped potential for business development”.

In recent times, the JP Group entered a joint venture acquisitions of UK-based Geest Line and Co Beverage Lab, SL (CBL), a producer of fresh juice, based in Barcelona, Spain.

Subsequent to the end of the third quarter, the company acquired a 50 per cent interest in Grupo Alaska, SA: An ice and bottled water business — based in the Dominican Republic — operating at the heart of the largest and fastest-growing consumer market in the Caribbean. JP says it is confident that this market presents a major prospect for long-term regional growth in consumer goods and services.