A 'Peak' location for water investor
Published:Friday | November 12, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Deika Morrison, Guest Writer
In real estate, it is said, the most important feature of any property is location. If you are in the spring water business, the same thinking definitely applies.
For more than a decade, Blue Mountain spring water has been made available by Peak Bottling Company Limited, producers of Catherine's Peak.
In a very straightforward and efficient process, the water is piped from the spring to the factory, then filtered repeatedly with progressively finer filters to remove silt and sediment, and then finally treated with UV light.
The processes of ozonation and multiple rinsing ensure the bottles - which many of us ultimately drink directly from - are clean.
Clean bottles line up, get filled either with a fully automated or manually operated machine, the date code is applied, bottles are sealed and then the human eye is employed for the final quality check in the hand-packing process.
The quality checks do not start and end there.
The company analyses the source weekly - with in-house testing and outsourced testing overseas. Not only does the Bureau of Standards do its checks, but Managing Director David Wong emphasises that the company tests every single batch of water made for sale.
THE ROUTE TO MARKET
The purification process depends on the source. The better the source, the more straightforward the process. And the source is determined by the location. But the location has come at a price.
The only way to get to the Catherine's Peak factory is to take an hour's drive - assuming no traffic - from Papine, slowly navigating treacherous corners up a winding hill while you can only hope that the road has not been blocked by landslides from rains.
No roads literally means no business. The only way up is the only way down. Even if there is production, commercial quantities of water can only be transported by large, heavy trucks. If you have ever wondered if road infrastructure matters to the manufacturing sector, you would quickly know after a drive up to Catherine's Peak.
After enough severe weather experiences, including being shut down for eight weeks after Hurricane Ivan in 2004 because of inaccessible roads and disrupted electrical supplies, Wong de-veloped and executed a new strategy: the company has invested significantly in warehousing facilities.
What does this mean? Prior to hurricane season, extra supplies are brought down to their recently expanded Derrymore Road (Courtney Walsh Drive), facility - just in case of anything. Of course, any business school would have recommended 'just-in-time' pro-cessing and production - the complete opposite - but impractical for the circumstances. Wong's new strategy is the difference between being able to meet consumer needs or not, especially - in an ironic twist - the busiest possible time, which is during a hurricane, when the first thing people stock up on is reliable drinking water.
Located in Cold Spring, Wong proudly notes that all approximately 60 employees come from the community itself, including nearby Settlement, making Catherine's Peak the largest employer in the area. For years, a four-day flexi workweek has worked well in an environment that makes late nights for overtime virtually impossible for the staff.
Not only does this help support community development, it also gives an unexpected extra level of security. After all, community members are incentivised to watch out for their own environment - whether it is for their homes or for their livelihoods.
When the roads are blocked, Wong is probably one of the first to know exactly where.
In a clear case of the power of communication and collaboration, Wong is informed by his staff; he then communicates with the National Works Agency, which is able to surgically deploy teams to clear the roads based on specific problems. The beneficiaries? All the businesses and residents on that route.
THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL
Bottled in eight different sizes, from eight ounces to five gallons, the company has a serving size to meet a variety of needs. Wong notes that the operations' flexibility allows it to create co-branded bottles, so you may just see a Catherine's Peak label featuring one of your favourite other brands as well.
Of course, Catherine's Peak is a beneficiary of the tourism sector, where visitors expect bottled water. But for now, its main market is the Jamaican buyer.
Expansion through export will be approached strategically over time when the investments made in packaging come on stream to meet the needs of the competitive international bottled-water market.
All the boxes for local distribution already say 'Product of Jamaica', so it is just a matter of time.
One final note on the concept of location. Catherine's Peak makes it a point to buy local, not just to support the local economy, but because it is good business.
Local and reliable supplies of labels, bottles and boxes mean less uncertainty and delays with importing. As a result, the company creates layers of interlinkages for the economy, whether contracted distributors, wholesalers or retailers.
Catherine's Peak's story is all about location. There are lots of opportunities brought by location, such as the water in taste, quality of source, staffing and operational design. And for the challenges brought by location such as the roads, those have been met with strategy, communication and collaboration.
Deika Morrison is managing director of Mdk Advisory & Consulting Limited. She is compiling a catalogue of Jamaica-made products and support services. www.jamaicacatalogue.com.