Large distributors raring to go, but some clients still recovering
Published:Friday | July 5, 2024 | 12:08 AM
Seprod Group, a large manufacturer and distributor of food items, was back in operation on Thursday, having withstood the wrath of Hurricane Beryl with minimal disruption due to the precautionary steps taken by the company’s business continuity team, said CEO Richard Pandohie.
But while Seprod is in a position to resume normal operations, it is constrained by the varying levels of readiness for resumption of business by the commercial clients it serves.
“On the distribution side, we’re up and running. Of course, not all customers are ready for us. For example, Hi-Lo (supermarkets), they have not been able to take delivery from us and have asked us to hold,” Pandohie said.
Additionally, assessments regarding the conditions in parishes like St Elizabeth and Manchester are ongoing to determine whether those customers will be able to receive supplies.
“We’re talking to our customers and waiting to hear what their priorities for recovery are and when we can start. But, on our side, it’s full rollout,” Pandohie added.
At Wisynco Group Limited, a beverage maker and distributor of drinks and consumer goods, Chairman William Mahfood said after closing down operations on Tuesday, just after midday, the group was cranking up the manufacturing side for a 60-70 per cent resumption by late Thursday.
On the distribution side, Mahfood said a lot depends on how quickly the country and, by extension, Wisynco’s customers recover.
“As soon as road works and other infrastructure works such as electricity are restored, we’ll be ready. It is a matter of being able to get to our customers and service them as we want to do. As customers start to reopen and can take deliveries we’ll be out there delivering. Realistically, we expect that to be by Friday,” William Mahfood said.
For tea maker and food manufacturer Jamaican Teas Limited, CEO John Mahfood said their Temple Hall plant, located in the hills of St Andrew, was affected by roadblocks and a lack of potable water and electricity, and bedevilled by poor transportation. At the company’s Bell Road plant in Kingston, he said, it was all systems go.
The JamTeas Chairman says work could not commence at the Temple Hall plant because of a major roadblock caused by fallen trees, in addition to the absence of public transportation.
“It seems that transportation people were prepared for a very bad hurricane on Wednesday and therefore were not really prepared for full resumption on Thursday,” the JamTeas CEO said.
At the Derrimon Group, Chairman and CEO Derrick Cotterell is reporting a clean bill of health for all operations. He says apart from very minor damage at one facility, all eight retail locations in the Derrimon group are up and running except for St Ann’s Bay, which has had to grapple with staff availability. Those issues should be resolved by Friday, he added.
Regarding distribution, Cotterell says the parishes of Westmoreland, Manchester and St Elizabeth were heavily impacted, and as such Derrimon will be opening its warehouse facilities even on Sunday, to accommodate clients who want to replenish their supplies.
“We have teams ready to go into action on Saturday and Sunday to accommodate those areas. We’re just waiting on the roadblocks to be cleared,” Cotterell said.