FOR more than 25 years bulk chemical distributor Island Products Manufacturing Limited has kept delivering from its retail outlet on Ken Hill Drive in St Andrew, and has seen tremendous growth despite strong competition.

In the late 90s, products like fabric softeners were considered items only people of higher status in society could afford. To counteract that perception, in 1996 Island Products Manufacturing was incorporated. Its CEO, Earl Barry Martin, envisioned making cleaning and sanitisation products affordable to all Jamaicans, irrespective of their financial status.

“They [Island Products] made it affordable, offering dishwashing liquids and anything to make the home smell good and clean, without compromising on quality. Our journey started very small and we are very proud of where we are today,” said Kayon Martin, general manager at Island Products Manufacturing Limited.

Earl Martin has a background in chemistry, and his wife Kayon Martin receives a lot of support from their international suppliers on the mixing and production of chemicals. The company started as a small retail outlet with 2,300 square feet of space. As the company increased its range of products and customers grew, Island Products expanded to 40,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Its powder plant in Kingston does its flagship products — Oxi Master and blue soap powder — but its biggest seller is its industrial bleach.

“We know we are the largest manufacturers of bleach,” Earl Martin said, pointing out that bleach sales represent 30 per cent of the company’s profits.

“We do quite a volume of bleach. We start at 10.5 per cent [of the market]; we supply the industrial market, sewage treatment plants, Eco Lab, Red Stripe, RIU, and then we do dilutions from there depending on the strength that’s needed,” said Kayon.

The product that competes with bleach is Oxi Master, which represents 25 per cent of profits and is the only product manufactured by the company that is available on supermarket shelves.

“Over the last eight years we have seen the growth of its [Oxi Master] market acceptance, and recently, when we participated in the [Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association/J Exporters Association] expo, we got a lot of responses and some export markets. That product is everywhere and is one we are extremely proud of,” said Kayon.

With a fleet of 10 trucks and a second branch office in Montego Bay the company makes deliveries to every parish, every week.

Big on recycling, Island Products encourages its customers to do the same by allowing refills of containers and offering a discount on what it has termed Wholesale Wednesdays’.

“We encourage and promote recycling — bring back your containers, of course. The packaging is such a significant cost to an item and so when you bring back your container all you’re paying for is the content, not the bottles,” she said.

The special discounts on Wednesdays result in a packed and busy day for the 96 staff members at its Kingston plant.

Because Island Products sells in bulk, a lot of mom-and-pop shops the length and breadth of Jamaica offer a smaller version of what the company does, and it delivers to them on a weekly basis.

Throughout the years many distributors tried to mimic Island Products after seeing its rapid growth and sales. But according to Earl Martin, they have all come and fallen.

“The biggest competition we faced was in the 90s; there was a company that came up and was very interesting. They started out as our representatives in Old Harbour and the lady was very nice to me. She said, ‘Martin, tell you what you do, I have never seen products move this fast; I’m coming out of the shop and I’m going to compete with you,’ ” Martin shared.

“She said: ‘Look, this is the honest truth,’ and she went in heavily financed and she went in big time,” he added.

The competitor then opened shops all over the island and came with a bang. Within a couple of years in operation it went bankrupt. The company did, however, promote the concept so much that when it left the market, Island Products had a growth spurt.

But just when the Martin family breathed a sigh of relief, another company came up with the same concept and gave Island Products a run for its money.

But it also promoted heavily then died. Island Products grew again and the cycle continued.

“There are still some localised businesses and they are doing their thing, but it’s all friendly rivalry,” Earl said humbly.

Since its inception, the company is yet to record a loss. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, rubbing alcohol was produced on a small scale and the company pivoted to gel sanitisers and liquid. Contrary to many perhaps believing that the pandemic resulted in more sales and boosted profits, Earl said that profits were unchanged.

“We benefited from COVID because we were able to go very heavily into sanitisers and rubbing alcohol but we also supplied the hotels and they were closed, so we had profits on one hand and loss on another. Fortunately, the gain was greater than the loss,” explained Earl.

The company also dabbled in exports in previous years but the ongoing legal battle with soap manufacturer Blue Power for the export of blue soap to Dominica has redirected Island Products to focus on local markets.

“What that one action has done, it has completely killed our export because their action not only stopped bathing soap and blue soap and washing soap, it also had the side effect of killing dishwashing liquid, liquid laundry and fabric softener,” said Earl Martin.

He said he exported his last full container of products in 2019.

Island Products is now focused on supplying more to the local market. Along the company plans to be listed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange shortly, it is looking to acquire more space to expand its primary manufacturing plant in Kingston.

“We want to modernise the plant. We want to get more equipment, [and] more automation. The world is going green. We want to ensure we get on that train within another year or so with the expansion of our product line. There are so many new ideas in the international market that, as a local company, we can capitalise on,” Kayon said optimistically.