With Jamaica's trade borders open, National Rums continues to produce

With Jamaica's trade borders open, National Rums continues to produce

March 27, 2020

The rum industry in Jamaica is working overtime to try and meet the demand for its distilled products. This was the word from senior managers at National Rums of Jamaica on March 27, 2020 during the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters (JMEA) live Instagram interview programme "Productive Sector Speaks".

To illustrate how a discussion of distilled products fits into a discussion on the Jamaican economy, the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica 2018, published by the PIOJ records that the export of rum earned US$45,6 million, an 11% increase over 2017 in 2018, the highest earning for a single traditional export outside of mining and quarrying. The export of chemicals, including ethanol, earned US$37,9 million in 2018, an increase of 56.9% over 2017. Together, these two industries earned about 4.6% of the value of all domestic exports

Chief Executive Officer, Neil Glasgow, said that its operations were running at full capacity across three sites, as in addition to overseas orders, which make up 90 per cent of their production, National Rums of Jamaica is now providing more product to be used as in sanitisers, which supporting the national move to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 virus. This includes ethyl alcohol for chemical manufacturers, and also to supply the National Health Fund. The company has also been providing alcohol for the Corn Piece community which is under quarantine for COVID-19.

Mr Glasgow also noted that its Long Pond distillery in Trelawny, which was damaged by fire in July 2018, has returned to 50% capacity and is being run as a 24 hour operation.

Deputy CEO Martha Miller noted that the company will play its part to keep production going, and will deliver its products as long as the country's borders remain open for trade. Miller said that the two key components of rum are energy and molasses, both of which the company need to import. The company is in touch with its overseas clients and suppliers. National Rums of Jamaica is proud to say that their products are an essential input that is blended in prominent international brands, and they also have five consumer brands of their own.

HR Manager Joseph Robinson noted that the company's workforce had been slightly curtailed by the Disaster Risk Management (Enforcement Measures) Order (Number 2) 2020 which restricts the age of team members present on site to be under the age of 65.

National Rums of Jamaica has employees working at Monymusk near Lionel Town, Clarendon, Long Pond near Clarks Town, Trelawny and Innswood in St Catherine. Protective measures for employees include hand sanitising and hand washing stations, and the increased frequency of cleaning in high trafficked areas. The nature of the rum making business is across large acreages, and this aids social distancing.

Employees are monitored for symptoms and temperatures are taken at the start of a shift. Information has been provided to staff and this is reinforced. Staff are asked to extend the responsible behaviour at home. All tours have been suspended and work from home is in place.

Ownership of National Rums of Jamaica is 1/3 Government of Jamaica; 1/3 a company registered in Barbados and 1/3 a company registered in Guyana. Its Jamaican assets and commercial use of sugar cane and its products date back more than 250 years.

Productive Sector Speaks is a JMEA communication platform to connect with stakeholders during this period where Jamaica and the world seeks to stay viable through the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic. Questions were taken from viewers of the feed. This edition with National Rums of Jamaica was the second in the series.

/gd