Purity eyes new products, wider distribution network
Published:Wednesday | May 26, 2021 | 12:10 AMKarena Bennett/Business Reporter
Consolidated Bakeries Jamaica Limited, which trades as Purity Bakery, is back in a profitable position after posting losses for the last two quarters of 2020 and a full-year loss of more than $14 million.
The baking company made a small profit of $9 million for the first quarter ending March, up 6.3 per cent year-on-year, despite a three per cent dip in revenue.
Managing Director of Purity Anthony Chang is upbeat on the outlook for the rest of 2021, as well as financial year 2022, saying new products are in the pipeline for roll-out and that the company would also be expanding its local distribution network, but holding back comment on the specifics.
Purity Bakery’s core business is the wholesaling and retailing of baked products under the Purity and Miss Birdie brands. Chang said the company is already in the process of improving its production and distribution capabilities, including IT upgrades to its distribution software, which manages everything from order processing to inventory control.
The company, which is faced with the rising cost of inputs, such as flour, recently made adjustments to the prices of its products as a result of higher production costs. Chang anticipates that Purity might be faced with further increases throughout the year.
“We want to mitigate that by making our operation as efficient as possible. We are expanding our offerings, we are going to be testing the market over the next couple of months and depending on how the market responds, we will launch some new products,” he told the Financial Gleaner.
Recently, one of Jamaica’s largest manufacturers of flour, Jamaica Flour Mills, announced that it would be increasing the price of its products by 8 to 11 per cent, citing higher freight rates, and fluctuations in oil prices and the foreign exchange rate.