TROPICAL Battery is gearing up for its next growth phase, with the company announcing that it has secured its logo patent in the United States and is finalising plans to begin distribution via Amazon
within the next two months.

“We are in the process of confirming the supply of products that will be shipped to an Amazon fulfilment centre,” said Alexander Melville, CEO of Tropical Battery. “Within 60 days I believe we should be up and running on that.”

The update came during an investor briefing held a day before the company’s additional public offering (APO), which opened Thursday. Executives used the session to outline Tropical Battery’s latest expansion plans and reassure investors about the company’s growth trajectory. While the company has not yet disclosed how extensive its Amazon distribution will be, Melville shared that the initial focus will be on targeting members of the diaspora who frequently purchase brake fluid online. But the Amazon roll-out represents only the smallest step in Tropical Battery’s broader growth agenda. The company used its investor briefing to outline a far more expansive plan, including discussions on a potential supply deal with cruise line Carnival Corporation.

“They buy a lot of batteries for their ships — speciality, mission-critical type batteries for lifeboats — and that’s what Rose makes. Tropical couldn’t do anything there [before],” said Melville. “We are now in communication, going back and forth about how we can enter their supply chain.”

Carnival is also in the process of installing solar systems at six of its Caribbean ports, starting with a US$600-million expansion in The Bahamas. Tropical plans to bid for that work.

“We have more than a fair chance of getting some business out of Carnival,” Melville added.

He noted that the industry is evolving rapidly in Tropical’s favour, citing the growing demand for energy storage, solar and renewable solutions, which are now outpacing global GDP growth. The electric vehicle (EV) market is also a key opportunity.

“EVs will now be 25 per cent of the cars sold in the world in 2025, and it’s growing by 17 per cent per year,” shared Melville.

On the renewable energy side, Kaya Energy Group — an energy company in which Tropical Battery acquired a 50 per cent stake as part of a strategic partnership — is aggressively targeting free trade zones, where large energy consumers continue to emerge. Kaya recently secured a 3.2 megawatt system, described as the largest solar deal in a free trade zone across the region.

“We’re working on a 50 thousand people housing project that’s going to be completely sustainable,” revealed Karina Chez, CEO of Kaya Energy Group.

In addressing the tariff issue on Tropical Battery’s US operations, Rose Batteries, a San Jose, California-based company, Chris Wunderlich, CEO of Rose Batteries, explained that the company’s exposure is limited due to its strategic sourcing and manufacturing set-up.

“For Rose, the tariffs, while impactful, do not place us at a disadvantage. Most of our competition is international, and those tariffs are paid on the products that come into the United States,” Wunderlich said.

Rose primarily imports cells from China, where tariffs have the largest effect. However, those cells only account for about 40 per cent of the total cost of the battery. As a result, the company only pays tariffs on that portion, while international competitors importing fully assembled products are paying tariffs on 100 per cent of their costs. This allows Rose to maintain competitive pricing and pass on lower tariff-related costs to customers. He added that the company also benefits from its Mexico-based operations, which are fully compliant under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

“We ship internationally from Mexico; tariffs wouldn’t be applied,” assured Wunderlich.

The company recently moved into a new facility, increasing its production capacity with 30 per cent more square footage. This shift is expected to improve operational efficiency and enable faster turnaround times from California to Mexico. In the US, Rose has also made strides in reducing costs passed on to customers.

Meanwhile, Tropical Battery’s APO aims to raise capital to help settle existing debt obligations. Despite this, the company made clear that its expansion and innovation drive is far from slowing down. Tropical Battery’s revenues have surged in recent years, growing from $1.8 billion in 2021 to $5.6 billion in 2024. As part of its local growth strategy the company is also expanding its retail footprint and is set to open its seventh location in Jamaica within the next 30 days. Since listing in 2021, Tropical Battery has paid a dividend in three out of four years, with a pause in 2024. The company has assured shareholders that dividend payments will resume once debt is cleared. The stock price has nearly doubled since its IPO price of $1 in 2021. With the APO priced at $1.87, investors, both new and existing, are being offered a lower entry point to buy shares at a discount to the market value.