Liquid Eggs Limited, the marketing arm of the Jamaica Egg Farmers Association (JEFA), has found a replacement for joint venture partner Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ), which is bowing out of the investment after eight years.
The Montego Bay-based plant was operated through Caribbean Egg Processors Limited, which has been a persistent lossmaker. The plant is being relocated to St Catherine under the new partnership.
Executive Chairman of CPJ, Mark Hart, said on Monday that some
matters relating to the buyout were confidential.
A JEFA director who spoke to Wednesday Business on condition of anonymity said Liquid Eggs and its new partner – which he identified only as a player in the egg market – had decided to buy CPJs’ shares and that the decision to “draw the cheque” had already been made. He said the plant relocation was well under way and that while the first deadline for May had been missed, production was expected to resume in June.
“CPJ has decided to come out of the business. When the cheque is drawn on our side, which we have already decided to do, we will issue a joint statement,” said the JEFA representative. “That is supposed to happen any minute now,” he added.
CPJ disclosed nine-month losses of US$37,600 from the eggplant to March 2015, due to continued suspension of operations. It builds on the US$59,787 of losses disclosed by the company last year for the full financial period ending June 2014. At that point, CPJ’s share of losses had accumulated over the years to US$312,241.
The JEFA director said that under the new partnership, Liquid Eggs Limited is planning to roll out a diversified range of products – including egg whites only for the baking, cosmetic and other industries, and eggnog as a value-added product – and would be pushing into the export market in the Caribbean.
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Avia Collinder
The Gleaner
