Second-generation Taylor charts new path for Supreme Chemical - Second generation Taylor charts new path for Supreme Chemical

Barry Taylor spent months hunched over his kitchen counters experimenting with chemicals to formulate a treatment for the long-term lungs disease, asthma.

The idea of developing the asthma treatment was first conceptualized while Taylor carried out his duty as chemist for a multinational, but when he was told that the global giant did not share his vision of developing products outside of its core business, he took his research home.

“I decided I was going to do something on my own, and I recall one occasion when an asthmatic coming to get their drugs and he was not able to buy the medication. Sometimes he would say give him a portion and he would come back for the rest,” Taylor told the Financial Gleaner during the featured NexGen interview.

“This was personal for me because my father was an asthmatic and if he didn’t go to work, he wouldn’t be paid. So all of this got to me and I decided to do something for the asthmatics,” the founder continued.

Distribution deal

After two years of extensive research, the pharmacy graduate of the then College of Arts, Science and Technology made no head way in developing the asthmatic products, but his drive to provide affordable over-the counter drugs for Jamaicans later led to him striking a deal with a United Kingdom-based company to distribute over-the-counter drugs in Jamaica.

“At that time pharmaceuticals came mainly from England, so we were bringing materials in from England, which would send me the bulk products and I would package them. The problem that we encountered was distribution, because no distributor wanted to take you up with just two or three products,” Taylor said.

“But we found a distributor who was willing to work with us,” he continued.

With $600 in savings, Taylor’s breakthrough led him to leasing a 10 x 12 feet office space on Red Hills Road, St Andrew, in 1974 and, soon after, the incorporation of the limited liability company, Bunny’s Products.

Bunny’s Products started off with Taylor using his weekends off his full-time job to package and distribute oil of wintergreen and eucalyptus oil. As the products hit retail shelves, the demand for the drugs kept increasing, ultimately creating an opportunity for Taylor to put to good use his scientific knowledge.

His research and experiments later produced a formula to treat skin irritation and inflammation caused by burns, insect bites, fungal infections, or eczema called Whitfield’s Ointment; and later a zinc and castor oil cream for diaper rash and bedsores. The market loved it, but Taylor, had more hurdles to clear.

“We wanted to manufacture paracetamol, which is a pain reliever and a fever reducer, and I was also encouraged to continue my research on the asthma product,” he said.

“Back then you wouldn’t have gotten loans to buy equipment because the business was categorised as specialized. We approached the same distributor, who agreed to help us in buying the equipment to make pills and we supply him the goods to offset it,” Taylor explained.

In 1978, the entrepreneur later secured a 4,000 square feet factory and office space on Weymouth Industrial Complex at 1 Weymouth Close in Kingston. At the time, Bunny’s Products was fulfilling its commitment to customers with three staff members.

Fast forward three years later, Taylor’s wife Orlene joined the business and Bunny’s Products diversified its business line to include asthmatic tablets and syrups under the brand Medovent, as well as household and industrial cleaning chemicals.

Expansion in the business line later propelled the owners to change the business name to Supreme Chemicals Limited. Six years later, the Taylors moved into the manufacturing of generic drugs under the Barrie Pharmaceuticals label, and established a sister company primarily for the purpose.

“We kept the name Bunny’s for the products because people were taking the products overseas. The products also went to England, and customers would call, but when we told them it was renamed Supreme Chemicals, they insisted that they wanted the Bunny’s products,” said Taylor, with a smile that told the story of how proud he was of his accomplishments.

“We had to go back to the Bunny’s brand.”

The year 2003 saw the Taylors making their first acquisition of food flavourings and syrups manufacturer McLas Foods. Today, Supreme Chemicals employs 147 individuals, most of whom lives in the surrounding communities of Riverton, Duhaney Park, Patrick City and Cooreville Gardens in St Andrew

The company now sits on 32,000 square feet of land with four buildings in the Weymouth Industrial Complex, produces more than 200 stock keeping units spanning ointments and over-the-counter drugs; food flavouring and colouring, household items and personal care. The brands include Bunny’s, McLas, Whisper, Sanitol, XTreme, and Glacier respectively.

Currently, 90 per cent of Supreme Chemicals sales come from locals, with the remainder coming from the United States, United Kingdom, Cayman, The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago. Locally, Whisper dishing washing liquid and Bunny’s alcohol and hydrocortisone cream stand as the flagship products. But internationally, the McLas vanilla is taking its place among the competition.

With assistance from his two sons, Ian and Gordon Taylor, Taylor hopes to increase sales in the international markets by 20 per cent and another 30 per cent increase in overall sales over the next three years.

Ian is now general manager of the business, having moved up since his official entry into the business some 10 years ago.

“I started out as salesman, then moved to warehouse supervisor, sales, logistics, purchasing, and now general manager,” young Taylor told the Financial Gleaner. “I was in the business for as long as I can remember. The first month of summer was spent in classes and then I would be helping with anything I could, whether driving the forklifts or packing goods. For us it was fun,” he said.

Now, Ian and his brother hope to take Supreme Chemicals to new heights with a listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and a shift in business model to focus more on marketing and distribution.

Part of the planned 50 per cent increase in revenue should come from a distribution centre that Gordon, who currently lives in the United States, is looking to set up to market both Supreme Chemical’s manufactured and distributed products.

Ian is also in talks with a company in Barbados and is looking to secure more markets throughout the Caribbean.

“After 47 years of manufacturing, our plan is to maintain some aspects of manufacturing but because of the bureaucratic processes, it’s easier to market and distribute. So that will be the aim going forward,” Ian said.

Young Taylor has already started to test the market with a line of Nateen baby and adult diapers, wipes, condoms and over-the-counter drugs to complement its line of manufactured products.

“Right now, we have our eyes on some baby food. We have also realised that with the ageing population, there is care needed for senior citizens. So the adult diapers have been doing well. We’ve added the adult wipes to that, which also have been doing well. So we realise the market is there,” he said.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com