DERRIMON Trading Company Limited is relocating its US wholesale operation from Brooklyn, New York, to New Jersey as it seeks to slash operating costs and return the business to profitability following a period of sustained losses.

Chairman Derrick Cotterell told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday that the decision was driven largely by the high cost of operating in New York, where expenses including rent, insurance, municipal charges and even waste disposal have weighed heavily on the business.

“We’re trying to save some cost as it was just getting too expensive to operate from that location. We have moved the business to New Jersey, which is way cheaper. And that move will bring the business to profitability much faster,” Cotterell further told the Business Observer.

He said the move to New Jersey is expected to reduce the US operation’s costs by more than 60 per cent, with the company targeting a return to profitability within two to three months of the relocation.

In a notice posted to the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Monday, the company advised shareholders that its “Food Saver New York and Sampars New York stores will cease operations at 402 East 83rd Street in Canarsie, Brooklyn, with wholesale operations expected to restart from New Jersey in November 2026”.

Derrimon’s Food Saver New York and Sampars New York stores will be relocated to New Jersey by November 2026.

As part of the restructuring of its operations across the tristate area, the company also plans to place greater emphasis on e-commerce, through which it will mainly drive retail transactions, following upgrades to its Sampars online platform.

“Sales will go down a little bit, but we’re going to be profitable a lot quicker,” Cotterell said.

The relocation also follows significant disruption caused by flooding at the Brooklyn property, which forced a prolonged period of closure of the supermarkets and resulted in substantial revenue losses. The US stores serve as both an overseas revenue stream and an export channel for Derrimon’s Jamaican brands, including Spicy Hill Farms products.

The stores, which operated under Food Savers NY and Good Food for Less through Derrimon’s Marnock LLC subsidiary, reopened in August 2025 under the Sampars New York banner after a nine-month closure caused by severe roof and water damage.

“We’re still not 100 per cent satisfied with the repairs that were done, plus the high cost here. So between that and the cost to operate in New York — as everything is higher in New York — we just had to relocate,” Cotterell said.

Despite the restructuring, Cotterell said Derrimon has no plans to exit the US market.

COTTERELL… we’re trying to save some cost as it was just getting too expensive to operate from that location. We have moved the business to New Jersey, which is way cheaper. And that move will bring the business to profitability much faster

“We’re still good here. We have a lot invested and we still have a lot of customers and bright prospects there,” he said. “We’re not moving out of the US. It’s just that we’re moving from Brooklyn to reduce costs.”

The relocation comes as Derrimon works to recover from a difficult financial period that has seen group revenue decline sharply.

For the six months ended June 30, 2026, consolidated revenue totalled $5.7 billion, down 33 per cent from the $8.6 billion earned in the corresponding period last year, while the group recorded a net loss of $442 million. Second-quarter revenue similarly fell 35.35 per cent to $2.72 billion, down from $4.21 billion a year earlier, while the group reported a loss of $273 million.

Derrimon attributed the revenue decline to supply chain challenges and temporary working-capital constraints that affected the timely availability of inventory during the quarter.

“The group has realigned operations to match the current economic climate while emphasising strict cost management to become more efficient and improve profitability,” the directors said in the company’s recent quarterly report.

Derrimon which has had to be dealing with fall-outs concerning its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, saw glitches in the system affecting the accuracy of unit costs and units of measurement across its Sampars and Select Grocers supermarket operations throughout 2025,

Cotterell said that though the ERP problems have since been corrected and the group is now seeing signs of improvement, the decision to relocate was also taken as part of proactive measures to contain losses rather than wait for the US operation to recover on its own.

“We couldn’t wait until the business turned around there. We had to pivot,” he said.

With the restructuring and cost-cutting measures expected to produce progressively better results, Cotterell said the company remains optimistic about its recovery despite continued challenges in the global economy.

He said the group expects to see significantly improved performance by next year, although some initiatives could deliver results sooner.

“We see improvements happening already, but I think we should be back to profitability by the second to third quarter of next year,” Cotterell said.