John Myers Jr., Business Reporter

The new cargo cooling facility at Norman Manley International was commissioned in June. Here attending the function (from left) are Clive Lawrance, logistics manager, Exotic Farm Produce Ltd; Roger Clarke, Minister of Agriculture and Lands; Kirk Kennedy, executive director - markets, Jamaica Trade and Invest, and Michael Conway, president and chief executive officer at Air Jamaica. - File

Exotic Farm Produce Limited, a United Kingdom- based fresh produce importer and distributor, is considering a relocation of its distribution hub and has entered into negotiations with another country airport, saying it was exploring the least costly option for getting its products to market.

Air Jamaica, in the meantime, working through its United Kingdom-based cargo handling agent, is helping the company secure additional space on charter flights out of Montego Bay.

But, the arrangement could end up being too costly to sustain, said Exotic's procurement director Peter Jones.

The MoBay solution would also likely require new investment in another cooling facility at Sangster's.

The cold storage unit established at Norman Manley International in Kingston was a $15.3 million investment of the Ministry of Agriculture.

But the national carrier's president Michael Conway, has placed another suggestion on the table, saying in a brief interview with the Financial Gleaner that Exotic could look to competing carrier British Airways, which flies out of Kingston three days per week to Gatwick, to lift some of the produce.

Blindsided earlier

Exotic was blindsided earlier this year when Air Jamaica sold its London route to Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways.

"This decision has been a great inconvenience to us and has led some of our potential partners to question the viability of this option as a logistics hub," Jones said.

"If we find the business development being constrained by a lack of cargo capacity out of Jamaica then we may be forced to look at other Caribbean locations for our logistics hub."

He did not reveal which other Caribbean island his company was talking to, saying only that the company has had "initial approaches from a number of interested parties, but nothing has been finalised at this stage."

Exotic Farm has an arrangement with Air Jamaica for the national carrier to lift between 16 and 20 tonnes of fresh produce per flight, seven days a week, from a newly built cold storage facility in Kingston to Heathrow, London.

Under the agreement, the weekly volumes airlifted would range between 112 and 140 tonnes of fresh produce sourced mainly from South America.

Now Exotic is facing the possibility that its weekly volumes will be significantly reduced in another three months when Virgin takescontrol of the route in late October.

The U.K. airline has said it plans to do two hops per week only.

Had agreed to repay Exotic

Prior to the sale of the route, Air Jamaica had agreed to repay Exotic Farm Produce the cost of building the cold storage facility, as well as commissioning costs amounting to US$350,000, Jones said.

"It is apparent to me that the agreement was made with the passenger side of the business very much in mind and that little or no thought was given to the cargo side of the business," Jones said via email to the Financial Gleaner.

Select Airline Management, the UK company which manages Air Jamaica's cargo business in that country, is currently involved in discussions with charter operators from Montego Bay to London to uplift an additional 48 tonnes of cargo for Exotic Farm, Jones said.

But even if with this additional cargo space, the procurement director contended that the arrangement would cost his company much more to transport the fresh produce from Kingston to Montego Bay.

Air Jamaica actively working

Air Jamaica's director of customer service and cargo operations, Sarah Young, confirmed that Air Jamaica was actively working to put in place a suitable arrangement to ensure Jamaica remained a viable transshipment hub.

"We did not have a contract with Exotic," said Young. "But we are working with them to ensure that Jamaica is still the transshipment point for them and as such we are collectively working together to secure whatever space they require to lift the product through Jamaica."

Conway said BA would be a viabl since it would eliminate both the need to transport produce from Kingston to Montego Bay and new investment to build another cold storage facility at Sangster International.

British Airways, together with Virgin Atlantic should satisfy the cargo capacity required, Conway reasoned.

Exotic, however, is hoping for another solution.

"The best option for all concerned would be for Air Jamaica to restore its London route, even if it were to fly into London Gatwick rather than London Heathrow, using the new Boeing 767 aircraft that has been reported that they are buying," said Jones.

john.myers@gleanerjm.com