Red Stripe Commended for Expanding Operations

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill (right), and Red Stripe’s Managing Director, Luis Prata, view one of several production lines, during a tour of the company’s plant on Spanish Town Road in Kingston, on Tuesday (July 26).

The management of Red Stripe has been commended for piloting the local brewery giant through the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, to expand the entity’s operations.

This includes further production capacity buildout at the firm’s Spanish Town Road-based plant in Kingston.

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, who toured the plant, including the built-out facilities, on Tuesday (July 26), noted that the management is investing “tens of millions of Euros” in expanding the operations, while describing the management’s exploits as “amazing”.

“They have a line that is running 24 hours to make stout and beer and other products for their markets. When you look at their sales, they have improved and, in fact, they are now beyond the pre-pandemic numbers. So Red Stripe, Heineken [and the other products] continue to do very well,” he told JIS News.

Senator Hill, who met with senior company executives, headed by Managing Director, Luis Prata, noted that approximately 26 per cent of Red Stripe’s products are exported.

“I would love to see when that [figure] reaches 50 per cent of their production, which [would be in] line with the objective we have in the Ministry, where we must make a lot more products [for] export,” he argued.

“If we’re going to grow Jamaica, we have to export a lot more products to people who buy them overseas. I’m pleased to say that Red Stripe/Heineken are on the right road [in this regard], and it was impressive to see the kind of investments they have put in. So, I congratulate them, [as] more Jamaicans will get [jobs], and I wish them every success,” the Minister added.

The company principally brews the flagship Red Stripe Beer, Heineken Beer, and Dragon Stout, which are favourites among Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora.

Meanwhile, Mr. Prata told JIS News that Red Stripe is “really recovering well” from the pandemic and has been “looking at ways to improve our operations and expand our capacity”.

He said the company has been investing a “significant amount of money” in expanding the facilities in recent years and indicated that Red Stripe’s principal export markets are the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

 - JIS 

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