Tropical Rhythms to be manufactured in the USA

GRACE Kennedy is making a bid to increase its market share of its new fruit drink "Tropical Rhythms" in North America.

Director of the Group's Food Trading Division, Irwin Burton, announced that an agreement has just been concluded between Grace Kennedy Export Trading Ltd and Brooklyn Bottlers, New York, for that company to manufacture Tropical Rhythms for the North American market.

Mr. Burton explained that the decision to seek manufacturing facilities overseas was based on the difficulty that Grace Food Processors was experiencing in supplying the demand created by the product.

"Launched in November 2001, Tropical Rhythms has far exceeded even our most optimistic projections. The response of the local, regional and North American markets has been overwhelming, making it impossible for the local plant to keep in step with the demand for the product. Consequently, it was decided that locally we would focus on producing for the Jamaican and Caribbean markets while Brooklyn Bottlers will supply the US and Canadian markets. At the same time, we were upgrading the local plant to be able to meet this demand," Mr. Burton said.

Mr. Burton said that in late July a team including managing director of Grace Food Processors Andrew Ho, Quality Assurance/Research & Development Co-ordinator, Lorna Lowe, Grace Food Processors, Derrick Reckord, General Manager of Grace Kennedy Export Trading Ltd and himself, visited the factory to supervise the manufacture of a pilot run. It went well and it is anticipated that the first commercial batch will be ready for distribution in September when Tropical Rhythms will be rolled out in the US and Canadian markets simultaneously.

Mr. Burton underscored the fact that this move had several benefits not the least of which was the lower cost of production gained from the economies of scale enjoyed by Brooklyn Bottlers in sourcing raw materials, including bottles.

In addition, "The costs which we would have incurred by importing material into Jamaica and re-exporting the finished product to North America have been saved, thus allowing us to enter the market at a more competitive price," noted Mr. Burton.

Tropical Rhythms, distributed by World Foods Inc. in the USA, is being heavily marketed in Florida and the Tri-State area. It is already being carried by a number of leading retailers, including Pathmark. "Indications are that Tropical Rhythms is appealing not only to the ethnic market but in the wider mass market in North America," Mr. Burton said.

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