Seprod leverages CPJ expertise to drive hotel distribution expansion
Manufacturing and distribution company Seprod is bullish on expanding its distribution business in the hotel trade sector across the Caribbean and has positioned itself through Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ).
Last week, its subsidiary, A.S. Bryden and Sons Limited, announced the acquisition of a 44.8 per cent stake in CPJ, making it the largest shareholder in the premium food and beverage distributor serving hotels and resorts in Jamaica and St. Lucia.
“We are the Caribbean; we are in the business of hospitality in this region, and up to now, our group has had very limited exposure to hospitality because it’s a specialised area,” Seprod Chairman P.B. Scott said. “You don’t just wake up one morning and decide you are going to sell to all the hotel chains in Jamaica and have a hospitality business.”
Scott outlined Seprod’s strategic plans through its Trinidad and Tobago-based subsidiary at the company’s annual general meeting on Monday at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica.
He acknowledged Seprod’s previous challenges in tapping into the hospitality industry.
“How do I know that? Because that’s what I thought you had to do and failed. We have not made much progress over the last 10 years,” Scott admitted.
The Seprod chairman also praised CPJ for its successful operations in the hotel sector, noting their specialisation, talent, customer service, relationships, and infrastructure. He emphasised that the new CPJ share acquisition would enable Seprod to build a business supplying hotels and restaurants in Trinidad, Guyana, Barbados, and other markets.
“We have not serviced them traditionally, and we look forward to building that fourth pillar of our distribution business,” Scott noted.
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A.S. Bryden’s strategic investment in CPJ will give it additional scale and expand Seprod’s geographic footprint beyond Trinidad, Barbados, and Guyana to now include Jamaica and St Lucia. This move will provide A.S. Bryden with new capabilities to serve the hotel, resort, and restaurant channels and give its business access to hard currency earnings, Scott indicated.
Richard Pandohie, A.S. Bryden’s CEO, will take over as chairman, replacing CPJ’s co-founder Mark Hart. Tom Tyler, another CPJ founder, will be appointed deputy chairman and will serve as a consultant focusing on customer and supplier relationships and business development opportunities. Mark Hart and Candace Hart will remain as directors of CPJ.
Scott believes that in addition to growing its other distribution business units and manufacturing business, the company will be able to increase revenues and add shareholder value through its strategic acquisition.
“We believe if we do a good job, we will continue to grow, and as Richard says, we will probably get to US$1 billion in 2026,” Scott said.
Pandohie told the annual general meeting that the company is on track to meet its target of becoming a US$1 billion company by 2026. He also said Seprod had delivered another year of strong results, which has been extensively documented in the annual report.
“Over the last 12 months, we have made significant investments in our people and our company, $2.7 billion spent on capital expenditure, and over $5 billion has been committed for 2024,” Pandohie said.
Echoing Scott’s statements on capitalising on the growth seen in tourism, Pandohie noted that Seprod is in the business of satisfying consumer demand and would look to occasions that call for high consumption of its products.
“When you look at the tourism input, that’s rising steadily, that’s a space that’s growing phenomenally. We see all those rooms coming, all the visitors coming. We have to make sure that in all these opportunities, our products are there, not just the current ones, but the future products,” Pandohie said.
During the year, Seprod commenced work on its new distribution facility, a circa US$25 million project that will unlock efficiency, productivity, and regional expansion. It is building a new 240,000 square foot distribution facility in central Trinidad and 75,000 in Houston, Guyana. In Barbados, Seprod is moving its business into a new distribution centre for its pharma sector. The company plans to continue this trend with its pharma business in Jamaica moving into a new facility in the last quarter of 2024 and completing the implementation of the new capacity at Serge for beverages.
Seprod’s chairman, Scott, said as the company builds out infrastructure in its markets across the region, it is taking into account cold storage and warehousing to be able to start onboarding these premium beverages supplied by CPJ and its other businesses.
