Jamaica Producers expands in European juice market
September 8, 2021
JAMAICA Producers (JP) Group recently expanded into the European juice market following its acquisition of a 50 per cent interest in CoBeverage Lab, S.L. (CBL), a fresh juice manufacturer based in Barcelona, Spain.
Through its acquisition of CBL, which serves a wide range of customers in southern Europe, JP is seeking to grow and take advantage of new business opportunities in that market. The deal took effect last Wednesday (September 1). The company, through its Hoogesteger line of fresh juices, is already in a number of countries in northern Europe and accounts for the largest business by revenues in the group.
“The acquisition is directly in line with the stated strategic plan of Jamaica Producers Group Limited which includes the development of major new markets in Europe for fresh juice. CBL is a useful platform for growth. We believe it has the team and the facilities to benefit from JP’s larger, established footprint and overall expertise in fresh juice,” said chief executive officer (CEO) of the JP Group, Jeffery Hall in commenting on the move.
The JP group, which runs a diverse operation across the food and beverage, port and logistics and agri-business sectors, had previously said it would be undertaking some new acquisitions as it seeks to increase shareholder’s equity over the next few years.
“We believe we are entering this new era with the capacity to improve our growth position. We have set ourselves a charge to, again, over the next 10-year period, try to triple shareholders’ equity in this business – in part, by doing another round of platform acquisitions,” Hall said during the company’s annual general meeting held earlier this year.
During its second-quarter period ended July, the group doubled net profits over the same period last year to $774 million while revenues went up by 36 per cent to total $5.9 billion. Half-year contributions from both the Logistics & Infrastructure (L&I) and Food & Drink (F&D) divisions were also positive relative to that in 2020. Net profit attributable to shareholders amounted to $353 million during the period.
“We view the diversity of our business as a strength. Our strategy is to build on our core business capabilities in food and drink and logistics and infrastructure with selective capital investment projects and acquisitions.
“Core capital investments in our terminal, cranes and warehousing at Kingston Wharves and our filling lines at Hoogesteger are designed to expand capacity, gain market share and drive efficiency in our two largest businesses. Our acquisition strategy will continue to see us identifying other logistics services that support trade with the Caribbean, as well as food and drink businesses in markets that present new growth opportunities for the group,” stated Chairman Charles Johnston in the company’s latest financial report.
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