Campari Group entity J Wray & Nephew Ltd is basking in the news that sales of the parent company’s products have seen hikes around the Caribbean in recent months, despite the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

Jamaica serves as the hub for the Caribbean in the distribution of Campari Group products, and officials are beaming that the trends for increased sales are looking good.

Though actual figures were not released, the company said that the welcome jump in sales was testament to strategies being employed by the organisation to spread its wings and increase volume.

“We are seeing take-up increase in Cayman for example, Guyana for Campari; St Lucia continues to be the leader of the world per capita for the Campari drink itself, while there have been growing sales of Aperol Spritz in particular, in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico,” said J Wray & Nephew’s Senior Commercial Director for the Caribbean Cecil Smith in a recent interview with the Jamaica Observer.

“Guyana, with their oil find, is doing a lot for Jamaican products being imported into the market, like Magnum, and Campari are growing strong… by almost triple digits in those markets,” Smith said.

“Apart from St Lucia being the world leader for Campari, export capabilities have expanded for other products. Our neighbour Trinidad and Tobago is a significant market for Magnum — just like how they love our dancehall music, they really love our Magnum brand there as well,” added Smith, who oversees 26 Caribbean markets.

St Lucia, located in the Windward Islands, has an estimated population of 185,000.

Emphasising that the markets of Guyana, the Cayman Islands, St Lucia, and Trinidad & Tobago were significant “fertile land”, J Wray & Nephew’s Senior Director, Public Affairs and Sustainability Tanikie McClarthy Allen said that one symbol of national pride is also a major part of projecting this north Caribbean island.

“Our brands always carry the Jamaica flag, embracing that they are Jamaican products,” she said. “We also always underscore responsible drinking. And our ambassadors Ding Dong and Spice, also bring their capabilities into those markets as much as we are building our brands. So we are into talent-building in those markets as well,” Smith chipped in.

As for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the war that has unfolded, it has had little adverse impact on Jamaica’s operations.

The group has operations in both countries, but raw material supplies do not come from either country for Jamaica’s domestic business.

“So far there has been no impact on our operations,” confirmed Smith. “We have operations in Ukraine and Russia, business offices…and we have been safeguarding our teams in those countries, which is Campari’s primary responsibility.

“We have gone over and above to ensure that that the team [Russia] continues to feel the warmth and comfort of Campari Group, and by that I mean advance payments, any secondary accommodations to get people to safer areas is already discussed and under consideration.

“As for our presence in Ukraine, that has been fully shut down, but we still have people on the ground to ensure that we can keep them safe as possible and with the resources we have to operate.

“We can’t predict how the war and how the bad logistics issues as a consequence of that will dog our business, but we have put in the measures to ensure that we have as little disruptions as possible,” Smith said.

Outside of Jamaica, much of the company’s other materials are procured from businesses located in other Caribbean islands, Central America, and Italy, where group operations are centred.

As far as supplies for the local market go, Smith reassured that adequate stocks of products are available, and there has been minor adjustments in prices, which do not include the main brands.

‘B’ brands like White Overproof Rum, Appleton Estate, and Magnum have seen no jump in unit costs, dousing the anticipation of some retailers that they could capitalise on any potential price rise of the major blends.

“Earlier, we had been seeing a little bit of hoarding. There are many new players in the market and some of the older, more established players were trying to take care of their more seasoned customers first, rather than the new customers. As a consequence, there was little bit of hoarding and limiting on the amount of purchase you got.

“We have had a massive increase in our customer base over time and, of course, our growth has also exacerbated the situation. The growth is phenomenal all around.

“We have taken the increase that we had planned for 2022 already, so there is no further increase for now. We are managing as best as possible to keep our prices where they are. Of course, we can’t predict what the future will bring. There is a war, the global supply chain could be impacted, but for now the planned price increase has been taken and we are doing all in our power to keep our prices steady,” Smith said.

He said that though no shortage was being experienced, “in simple terms, but just like everybody else, using the global chain supply limitations, from time to time we are running at ‘just in time’, and by that I mean the raw material comes in we are producing it in days rather than in typical weeks. So the timelines are much tighter than they would have been in the past”.

Smith said he expects that now that Jamaica has relaxed its COVID-19 measures, a significant spike is expected, what with more people becoming more comfortable to go out and drink.

“So we do expect that there will be an initial uptick which will balance out at some point, and that’s why we have been ramping up in anticipation of this day, and hopefully you will see that we are prepared, given the global supply chain constraints, and being able to supply our customers as we usually do.

“There is increased labour all around. We have brought more raw material, we have distilled more liquid and the commensurate manpower needed to do the production is also in place. We are doing everything in our power to be able to respond to the increase in consumer demand — like additional shifts, weekend work when we we need to to get in additional production, because our business is always scalable. Like most businesses in Jamaica we are dependent on raw materials arriving on time. If there are delays at the other end, there is going to be an effect on our business,” Smith said.