Seven years after officially becoming registered in the market, agro-processing, marketing and distribution company Sankhard Company Limited is on a mission to become a world-class leader in the manufacture of salad dressings and condiments.

The company, which first commenced operations in 2011 under the Springvale brand, has since evolved into a global food processing entity which also offers product development and contract packaging services for a wide range of condiments and ready-to-eat foods.

From a growing portfolio of internationally recognised brands which includes the Springvale, Irie Isle, and Mobsie products, the manufacturing company develops innovative foods that resonate with local and international consumers.

A family-owned and privately funded business which stems from three generation of farmers, Sankhard hand-picks top-quality, nutritious foods grown across Jamaica from farms located in St Elizabeth, St Mary and Portland — the byproducts of which are manufactured at its Marcus Garvey Drive factory in Kingston.

Highlighting a set of values and a business model built around five key pillars, the small company mobilises its business around sourcing fresh fruits and vegetables for products, providing value-added manufacturing, utilising approved facilities which are also of the highest quality and standard. This, as it also builds-out strong distribution networks locally and overseas.

“Sankhard was first started as a project to deliver world-class condiments that would represent the local culinary experience. The brand showcases innovation while bringing greater awareness to non-traditional Jamaican and Caribbean foods.

“As we continue on our mission to become a global leader in salad dressings and condiments, we also expect to develop products in the ready-to-eat sector such as our pumpkin coconut soup in cans or pouch soup products. We will also be leveraging our manufacturing capability to offer white labelling services in our core product categories like sauces, ketchups, jellies, jams and chutneys,” Managing Director Sandra McLeish told Sunday Finance.

The food processor, which prides itself as a pioneer in the salad dressing arena, boasts an extensive line of products such as its Springvale Oh My Dressing (OMD) products, which it extracts from a wide range of fruits, herbs and blends to showcase the diversity of local cuisine. This is evident in the unique and much sought-after products such as its pumpkin ketchup, mango with ginger salad dressing and creamy sorrel vinaigrette which now ranks among some of its top selling products.

“We are very focused on ensuring consistency in supply as we also continue to work on new products to grow our market share,” McLeish said.

The small business having been a top contender and the recipient of numerous awards in several private sector and government-funded programmes such as the JMMB resource centre accelerator programme and the Development Bank of Jamaica’s (DBJ) IGNITE programme among others is no stranger to success and remains on the hunt to bring more value to market.

Actively targeting and serving clients in the retail, gifting and hospitality sectors, the company now looks to exceed revenue growth upwards of 25 per cent in the Diaspora market and is also bullish on efficiently scaling its operations to take advantage of export opportunities.

It currently sells to Diaspora members in the US, United Kingdom and Canada through Carib Shopper, Amazon, and other e-commerce platforms.

Sankhard’s operation, powered by the efforts of a growing staff complement made up of approximately five full-time employees and about 16 others working part time, its management said has big plans for growth. Targeting a number of other milestone achievements, the aim it said is to come closer to realising its mission of becoming a globally recognised brand.

“Some of the plans we have line up over the short to medium term include market listing driven by the possible launch of an initial public offer [IPO], the addition of products in all product categories accompanied by new samples as well as an expansion of our production capacity to three lines — in order to produce 800 cases per shift. We also want to include a pouch line for sauces, seasoning and soups,” the managing director disclosed.