SEPROD Limited is now moving to take advantage of a new co-manufacturing opportunity which should see the company beginning to export heifers to other territories in the region.

Touting it a ground-breaking move, Seprod’s CEO Richard Pandohie said the latest development is likely to open up new streams of revenue under its co-manufacturing business for which it is already targeting growth of 42 per cent by the end of this financial year.

Currently, Seprod does co-packing for 14 companies, eight of which accounts for the bulk or more than 90 per cent of that operation. Pandohie said the aim is to further tap into the area, leveraging new opportunities from its over 6,000 cows used on its Serge Island diary farm in St Thomas.

“We’re now working closely with Barbados through a private sector company and government to see how best we can work collaboratively to bring more value to the region. We’re working to see if we can export dairy animals from Jamaica to Barbados from our Serge Island dairy business. Prior to now, they would have been looking outside of the region but now they’re looking to see if we can provide this supply from within the region. We’re looking to supply them with heifers [12-15 months old] from our cattle population,” he told the Jamaica Observer in an interview this week. Though providing no timeline for the exports to start, the expectation, he said, was for these activities to get underway soon.

“I think this is significant as it is one of the ways in which we are collaborating with another territory which could be groundbreaking if we get it right. We’re [therefore] trying to create models and templates that we can use in other region,” Pandohie said.

Working with the Caribbean Private Sector Organisation (CPSO) in this venture, Seprod said the venture will also contribute to Caricom’s goal of cutting food imports from outside the region.

“As a Caribbean company seeking to provide this import substitution, we are looking to take at least 15 per cent from this opportunity, so between 2024-2030, this alone should have an impact on our business providing revenues of almost 34 per cent. It’s a lot of work that we’ll need to do to get there, but we are setting the targets and I think we have a good path to get there, but we must collaborate as a region,” Pandohie added.

With group revenues growing 43.5 per cent last year, to $112 billion, yields from this latest deal is expected to help push out-turns beyond the $150 billion mark by 2026 — a target set by the company.

“We are co-producing and exporting not just our own brands, but also for other companies and that’s a big driver of the numbers we now see. We pride ourselves on co-producing/manufacturing for other people and we’ve had some phenomenal achievements over the last few years,” Pandohie told shareholders during the hybrid meeting, as he referred to successes including Seprod’s canning of products for large companies such as coffee franchise Starbucks, when capacity weakened in the US.

Citing co-manufacturing as a critical area of focus for the company, the CEO said capital investments are being undertaken to strengthen capacity as a win-win for all parties. Investments in Caribbean Products Limited (CPL) — its oil and margarine production subsidiary — Pandohie said further positions the entity into becoming the regional producer for Upfield Holdings, a Netherlands-based food company owning multiple brands of margarine, food spreads, and plant-based foods, including Flora and Blue Band.

“As we look to the future we are poised for substantial growth over the next five years with our priorities being our continued investment in new technology and infrastructure to drive profitability and productivity,” he stated.