Seprod Expanding Margarine Plant To Supply The Caribbean  

• Manufacturing and distribution group Seprod is looking to supply the region with more margarine and is in the process of expanding its subsidiary Caribbean Products Limited to handle the increased production load.
• Over the past eight months, the company has been renovating and upgrading the equipment and is expected to ramp up the new capacity within another month. At that time, Seprod plans to start producing more margarine for sale to the Caribbean region, but it will also be producing the item on behalf of a third party under contract.
• So far, Seprod has spent about US$6 million on the plant. Seprod Group’s CEO Richard Pandohie noted that it is essentially a new margarine plant and is expected to be finished by April. The idea is that Seprod will be co-packing for a major global company while being able to introduce a lot more margarine and butter-type products to the market.
• Caribbean Products is presently capable of producing different types of margarine, inclusive of bulk for the baking and food industry; and hard stick and soft table margarine for home use.
• The disclosure about the plant expansion comes alongside the release of the company's preliminary year-end results for 2022. Profit climbed 93% during the year, from $1.85 billion to $3.84 billion. This was on the back of an 82% increase in revenue to $79.67 billion. The additional $36 billion of sales was mostly related to the consolidation of newly acquired business AS Bryden, a distribution company based in Trinidad & Tobago. The acquisition has essentially doubled Seprod's revenue. Minus the effect of AS Bryden, profit would have grown by 8%. The expansion of the margarine plant is expected to contribute further to the continued improvement of the company’s bottom line.

(Sources: Financial Gleaner & Seprod)