Growth & Jobs | JAMPRO: More manufacturers entering cosmetics market

Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) has reported an increase in the number of manufacturers entering the cosmetics space, many of whom began exporting in 2019.

This is contained in the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica 2019, which was tabled in the House of Representatives recently.

The document notes that many of these products utilised natural ingredients and were targeted at health-conscious consumers. This, it adds, helped to fuel the increased use of locally grown raw material, such as castor, aloe vera, coconut and cannabis.

“More than 50 new haircare and skincare products were introduced into the United States. The national ban on single-use plastics fuelled opportunities for the manufacturing of biodegradable packaging, such as paper bags, and bamboo straws,” the report states.

Pharmaceutical Products

Another area of increased activity was pharmaceutical products, particularly over-the-counter items, some of which entered new export markets in the Caribbean region.

As it relates to agro-processing and the agribusiness sector, the investment was approximately US$46 million.

The bulk of the investments materialised domestically and were led by an agro-processing project in St Catherine, which was expected to introduce state-of-the-art technology into the food production space.

The report further notes that smaller private-sector investment projects facilitated by JAMPRO were for plant expansions, retooling, and the implementation of quality standards to meet the requirements of Jamaica’s major export markets – the USA, the United Kingdom and Canada.

“Overall, the investments in the sector were aimed to take advantage of growing domestic and export market opportunities,” the document adds.

Benefits were also derived from the continued implementation of investment projects from the previous year, including the multimillion-dollar investments in cold-storage facilities in key locations.