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Local agroprocessor undertaking expansion thrust
By Julian Richardson
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
The proprietors of Spur Tree Spices Jamaica Limited, an emerging processor of gourmet sauces and condiments, is hoping that an expansion thrust, catalysed by its recent breakthrough in two key export markets, will reinforce a strong mutually beneficial link between local farmers and agriprocessors.
However,<span style="font-weight: bold"> the major impediment, said partners Mohan Jagnarine and Dennis Hawkins, is the difficulty in getting a consistent supply of raw materials from local farmers. In fact, Hawkins said that the company, which is wholly dependent on locally-grown raw materials, has had to put orders on hold because of this.</span>
Jagnarine empties a cup of seasoning into a liquifier at Spur Tree's manufacturing plant on Woodglen Drive in Kingston (Photos: Bryan Cummings)
<span style="font-weight: bold">"The supply of raw materials is a problem. The biggest problem is matching the volume of production with the raw materials at the right price," Hawkins told the Business Observer yesterday. "What we have had to do over the past two years is buy when the price and availability is good, grind and hold all our major ingredients by as much as a year to make sure that we have continuity of supply. So a lot of money gets tied up in that material which is not going to be used to manufacture in six to nine months."</span>
Still, Spur Tree has established strong relationships with a number of small and medium sized farmers in rural Jamaica, mostly from St Elizabeth, that it hopes will develop overtime.
"We get peppers from all over the place - St Mary, Portland, etc - and we get pimentos from Portland and Westmoreland," revealed Hawkins. "We get most of our escallion, thyme and some scotchbonnet from St Elizabeth."
Spur Tree, which over most of its three years in existence has been supplying local hotels with its flagship jerk sauce and other seasonings in bulk, recently sourced two overseas buyers - Restaurant Depot in the US and Karibbean Flavours in Trinidad - that will distribute the company's products in their respective markets. Restaurant Depot headquartered in New York, wholesales the product to different retail outlets and restaurants, while Karibbean Flavours rebrands the product for distribtion under its own moniker. Both companies, having made one order each already, have repeated their order, and Spur Tree has two 20-foot container shipments lined up for each destination - one leaves on Friday for Trinidad and the other will head to the US in two weeks time.
"The key is exports," said an excited Jagnarine. "I believe in exports; I believe if you don't export you die."
It was Jagnarine who came up with the idea to establish Spur Tree whilst operating a restaurant - Windies Grill - in Mandeville with friend, West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Jagnarine is originally from Guyana but has lived in Jamaica for 30 years.
"I always wanted to export Jamaica and the passion to make pepper sauce was always there," noted Jagnarine.
So far, J$15 million has been invested in the business, all self-financed, and the company currently operates with 10 employees from a 5,000 square-foot leased factory on Woodglen Drive in Kingston. The plant has the capacity to produce 30,000 to 50,000 of jerk weekly.
According to Jagnarine, Spur Tree will launch its products in local supermarkets by the end of the month.
"We didnt go local first because we decided to grow the export part of the business," said Jagnarine. "But the timing is right now."
By Julian Richardson
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
The proprietors of Spur Tree Spices Jamaica Limited, an emerging processor of gourmet sauces and condiments, is hoping that an expansion thrust, catalysed by its recent breakthrough in two key export markets, will reinforce a strong mutually beneficial link between local farmers and agriprocessors.
However,<span style="font-weight: bold"> the major impediment, said partners Mohan Jagnarine and Dennis Hawkins, is the difficulty in getting a consistent supply of raw materials from local farmers. In fact, Hawkins said that the company, which is wholly dependent on locally-grown raw materials, has had to put orders on hold because of this.</span>
Jagnarine empties a cup of seasoning into a liquifier at Spur Tree's manufacturing plant on Woodglen Drive in Kingston (Photos: Bryan Cummings)
<span style="font-weight: bold">"The supply of raw materials is a problem. The biggest problem is matching the volume of production with the raw materials at the right price," Hawkins told the Business Observer yesterday. "What we have had to do over the past two years is buy when the price and availability is good, grind and hold all our major ingredients by as much as a year to make sure that we have continuity of supply. So a lot of money gets tied up in that material which is not going to be used to manufacture in six to nine months."</span>
Still, Spur Tree has established strong relationships with a number of small and medium sized farmers in rural Jamaica, mostly from St Elizabeth, that it hopes will develop overtime.
"We get peppers from all over the place - St Mary, Portland, etc - and we get pimentos from Portland and Westmoreland," revealed Hawkins. "We get most of our escallion, thyme and some scotchbonnet from St Elizabeth."
Spur Tree, which over most of its three years in existence has been supplying local hotels with its flagship jerk sauce and other seasonings in bulk, recently sourced two overseas buyers - Restaurant Depot in the US and Karibbean Flavours in Trinidad - that will distribute the company's products in their respective markets. Restaurant Depot headquartered in New York, wholesales the product to different retail outlets and restaurants, while Karibbean Flavours rebrands the product for distribtion under its own moniker. Both companies, having made one order each already, have repeated their order, and Spur Tree has two 20-foot container shipments lined up for each destination - one leaves on Friday for Trinidad and the other will head to the US in two weeks time.
"The key is exports," said an excited Jagnarine. "I believe in exports; I believe if you don't export you die."
It was Jagnarine who came up with the idea to establish Spur Tree whilst operating a restaurant - Windies Grill - in Mandeville with friend, West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Jagnarine is originally from Guyana but has lived in Jamaica for 30 years.
"I always wanted to export Jamaica and the passion to make pepper sauce was always there," noted Jagnarine.
So far, J$15 million has been invested in the business, all self-financed, and the company currently operates with 10 employees from a 5,000 square-foot leased factory on Woodglen Drive in Kingston. The plant has the capacity to produce 30,000 to 50,000 of jerk weekly.
According to Jagnarine, Spur Tree will launch its products in local supermarkets by the end of the month.
"We didnt go local first because we decided to grow the export part of the business," said Jagnarine. "But the timing is right now."