Photo by Anthea McGibbon
Three of the Port Royal rums bottled and distributed by KRB Lea Jamaica Limited.

Anthea McGibbon, Gleaner Writer

KRB LEA Jamaica Rums Limited has rebranded its Trelawny range of rums and relaunched them as the Port Royal Rum line, saying that in the past year, the company has invested $20 million to secure a niche for the products.

KRB's next move is expansion to markets outside the region.

The Port Royal rums are already being sold in Trinidad, said KRB director Geoffrey Messado, who, along with brother, Gordon Messado, Howard Hamilton, George McLeish and Peter Thomas, are principal shareholders in KRB Lea, a company they acquired in 2002 from Stephen Fung Lee and Michael Shim.

"The future of the rum lies in the world at large," Messado stated, adding that arrangements are being made with an importer to distribute within the United States where "there is market acceptance".

Small staff

The company produces five rum lines, Port Royal amber, silver, white and gold, as well as the Lea white overproof, bottled since 1992. The Port Royal gold line was added a few months ago, while the other three were introduced last December, then under the Trelawny Rum brand.

After a year of operations under the new owners, since October 2006, KRB Lea still has just six full-time workers employed on the 3,000 square foot factory on Constant Spring Road, St. Andrew, including blender Dolbert Lyon and operations manager Joy Ann Roberts-Jones.

The company gets its raw material from National Rums of Jamaica, which sources from the Monymusk Estate in Clarendon and the Long Pond Sugar Estate in Trelawny, long respected for the quality of its raw rum.

Prices

KRB blends and bottles the spirit in four sizes - one litre, the 750 millilitre or quart, a 170 ml flask, and miniature in reserved numbers - with annual production now at 20,000 cases.

Prices range from $4,700 per case to $7,500 per case, depending on the product line and size.

The flasks are priced from $392 to $625.

Launched at the Rums of the Caribbean Expo on May 12 this year, the Port Royal products are being distributed exclusively by Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited, while marketing is handled by Barrington Bucknor's Action Plan Promotions.

Messado estimates that Jamaican distillers sell about one million cases of rum per year, and says KRB has targeted a 10 per cent share, using price as a strategy.

The company consistently points out that its lines are cheaper than Wray & Nephew's, whose Appleton and Wray & Nephew brands maintain a lock on most of the market, given its 250-year history as a distiller.

Already breaking even

Based on estimates supplied by KRB, its flasks sell at 17 to 33 per cent lower than Wray & Nephew's.

The Port Royal rums are already in the Spanish-owned hotels, bars frequented by tourists and gift shops, Messado said.

After eight months of promotions, the KRB directors are still unwilling to speak about the expected returns on their investment, but according to Messado, the company was already breaking even.

Thomas, who is in charge of finances, said the estimated payback period on the investment is seven years.

anthea.mcgibbon@gleanerjm.com

Source: Financial Gleaner, Friday, December 7, 2007