Stationery and Office Supplies Limited (SOS) is pushing to further lessen its carbon footprint with the company investing in and engaging greater sustainability practices.

Speaking at the annual general meeting held on Wednesday, Chairman Stephen Todd said this move will see an increase in the company’s integration of solar solutions as well as its introduction of electric vehicles, machinery and equipment.

This, he said, is to take place at this time as the business seeks to “stay true to its commitment to the environment and contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gases”.

“In 2017 we introduced solar panels which saw about 80 per cent of our electricity at that time being provided by solar. However, as our business has continued to grow over the years until now, this has probably reduced to about 40 per cent and as such, we are at this time looking at expanding our solar project again. This will require a very high capital investment if we are to be able to come off the grid, mainly during the day when we have most of our working hours,” he told shareholders during the meeting.

“We’re also now looking at our industrial line in terms of the forklifts. We currently have about three to four electric forklifts that we use in our offices, as well as electric pallet jacks [however] what we are looking at expanding into, hopefully this financial year, is that our next purchase will be an electric vehicle. We would like to continue in this direction as we make that effort to reduce carbon emission and to strengthen SOS’s solar initiative,” Todd added.

The almost 60-year-old company, which continues to undertake a number of warehouse expansions and equipment upgrade, said its overall aim is to increase storage and efficiency as it doubles up on inventory amid growing demand for products. Its flagship notebook line, marketed under the SEEK brand, continues to witness significant growth, last year it contributed approximately $97 million to revenues.

With new equipment to further grow output from this line now in the island, the directors said this could possibly result in a tripling of current production volumes, with majority of the focus remaining on the back-to-school market.

“With the expected increase in production and those less labour-intensive machines we have coming, we’re expecting to see profits and revenue rise along with a complete escalation in the SEEK line as it is strengthened to supply the local market and to become the number one back-to-school product in Jamaica,” Managing Director Allan McDaniel said.

SOS’s revenue grew to a record high of $1.94 billion in 2023 with a net profit of $278 million. Up to the half-year mark in June 2024, total revenues for the company amounted to $433 million — 17 per cent below that for the same period in 2023, due to higher shipping costs and logistic challenges,

As the company, however, looks to extract more revenues from new and existing contracts, its continued export push remains a key area of focus.

“Year-to-date, we have gone about eight containers in 2024, plus six in 2023, as our regional exports continue to grow. We are going to continue to meet with all our different representatives in the islands as we move to find other partnerships and distribution lines that can help us to further grow our regional sales,” McDaniel said.

He added, “For 2025, we will also continue with our warehouse and solar expansions as well as that for our SEEK and EVOLVE lines. There are some other items including potential acquisitions that we will continue to track as we go forward. This year we’ve taken on 3M and Pilot, becoming an agency for them, and we will continue to look at anything else that will further advance our business.” EVOLVE is a line of office furniture including chairs, tables and cabinets, Pilot is a line of pens while the 3M line includes Post-It notepads and Scotch branded tapes supplied by SOS.

“With the collective effort of our team and with the strong foundation we’ve laid, I am certain that we are well positioned to continue our streak of positive performance. As we prepare for the next financial year, our aim is to continue to grow our revenues and our customer base as we remain agile to meet the ever-changing needs of our clients. We’re constantly updating our strategies and tactics to better serve our customers.

“There are several large contracts that are in the pipeline along with additional partnerships that are being forged that will continue to align with our vision for the company,” the chairman added.