Guyanese company seeks to expand in Jamaica

Sabrina Gordon, Business Reporter

Edward B. Beharry & Company Limited (EBB), a food manufacturing company in Guyana, seeking to expand its footprint in Jamaica is sourcing an exclusive distributor for its product within the island.

"We are looking for a company that is well established to reach the consumers, one that can carry our entire line of products which includes pasta, spices and confectioneries," said Savitrie Sukhu, international market representative for the company.

"We had someone that took some amount of our products but it was a small store and not as well established as much as we were looking for," she said.

"We are now looking for a company to give the exclusive rights to carry our lines of product," she said.

EBB was founded in 1935 as a privately owned small enterprise which began as an importer, wholesaler and retailer of food products to later incorporating several other lines of business.

Since then, it has grown into one of the largest food companies in Guyana according to Sukhu, manufacturing confectionery, pasta, spices and baking ingredients products. EBB has two main locations, the main office and distribution centre in Georgetown, along with its processing and bulk distribution facility. While Sukhu declined to disclose sales figure, she noted that export accounts for approximately 40 per cent of total sales, a figure which may fluctuate from time to time.

Other branches

The company has a branch of its operation in Suriname, and in Trinidad and Tobago, with distributors spanning Grenada, Antigua, Barbados, St Vincent and St Lucia. It also exports to Canada, England and New York.

In Jamaica, a company called Home Choice Enterprise Limited with a Portmore Lane address is listed among the company's network of international distributors, but when contacted the manager of the operation was said to be out of office.

Sukhu believes that the company can do very well in Jamaica and sees the island as a large market place.

"Most of our Caribbean neighbours carry our products and we think that with Jamaica's population we will do very well, but (we) need a company to work with, to promote the products to our satisfaction," she said.

EBB has been running advertise-ments for distributorship opportunity in the print media for over two weeks, with applications to be submitted by the end of September.

EBB lines of product include the champion brand under which it manufactures chow mein, macaroni, spaghetti, and others. It also has an Indi brand which include products such as curry powder and black pepper as well as Chico, its confectionery line of products.

Apart from manufacturing, EBB operation also span automotive, financial and insurance services.