CMK Bottling's Craig Wong holds two bottles of a new rum cooler Lymelite.

Packaging company CMK Bottling, in operation now for about two years, is trying for a foothold in the alcoholic-beverage market with the introduction of its first product, Lymelite, a drink made from a blend of lime juice and rum.

"Being in the packaging industry already producing plastic bottles and bottling coconut water, we wanted to produce a complete beverage made from rum and coconut water, but was unable to come up with the right formula," said Keith Jackson, a packaging experts for over 30 years and managing partner in CMK Bottling.

"We looked at what else could be done and we came up with rum and lime juice," he told Wednesday Business.

The focus at the moment said Jackson is targeted sales, rather than trying to blanket the island with the product, which would require a huge marketing outlay.

Battle against Smirnoff ice

Still Jackson concedes he will have an uphill battle against brands like Smirnoff Ice which is sold locally by Red Stripe on behalf of parent, Diageo.

CMK's beverage retails for $100 and wholesales for $65, while Smirnoff Ice sells for $100 to $150.

Jackson was reluctant to disclose production numbers, but said the company does less than 10 per cent of targeted production levels, which by Wednesday Business estimates means CMK rolls fewer than 3,600 bottles of Lymelite per week off its conveyor belt.

"We want to reach about 36,000 bottles a week, which is about 75 per cent of the present capacity," said Jackson.

CMK Bottling's principal shareholders are Jackson; Craig Wong, who works at the Port Authority of Jamaica, and Brian Forbes, a contractor in the gasolene business.

Jackson also operates a pack-aging operation called Plastic Bags Packaging Limited at Swallowfield in Kingston, in partnership with Michael Black's farm in St Thomas.

The plant produces 84,000 plastic bottles per week, and supplies the farm where the partners bottle and distribute coconut water under the Spring Garden brand.

Under-utilised

CMK required minimal new capital to launch Lymelite, Jackson said, because the company had access to under-utilised equipment at the 10,000-square-foot Swallowfield plant, which Jackson says over about $80 million a year.

"We piggybacked on a juice-filling line we had for other purposes," he said. "We already did plastic bottles, so the step from bottling coconut water to lime and rum was a small one."

Over the two years of CMK's operation, Jackson said the partners have pumped $10 million into the company, including $5 million to $6 million of capital outlay.

In addition to coconut water and Lymelite, the company also does fruit juices under the brand name Tropical Oasis.

Lymelite, a rum cooler made from limeade mixture and white rum, was initially being marketed as a lady's drink to compete with established brand, Smirnoff Ice.

But, "We discovered that it (Lymelite) was being consumed by both male and female and also used to mix with other drink such as Red Bull and so we had to rethink our strategy," said Jackson.

Lymelite, which took over a year to be perfected, is now on the market, channelled through bars and night spots in Kingston, as well as grocery chain Hi-Lo Supermarket.

CMK plans to launch the product in Mandeville by the end of this week.

The company has two other beverage flavours - ginger and orange - in its business plan, but Jackson said their launch is contingent on how well Lymelite does on the market.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com