Rainforest Seafoods Limited is further expanding its reach to markets in the eastern hemisphere with the development of a new processing centre at Calliaqua in St Vincent & the Grenadines.
Slated for opening at the end of 2018, the factory will service Europe, Asia, North America, and, in smaller quantities, the tourism market in St Vincent.
The company is investing US$3 million in the new operation, which Jardim said is forecast to grow group revenue by 10 per cent.
The St Vincent factory will be approximately 20,000 square feet and equipped to process multiple species of seafood indigenous to that country, including, but not limited to, lobster, conch, tuna, snapper, and other fish, Jardim said.
Rainforest St Vincent will employ 50 fishermen directly and 200 fishermen indirectly, Jardim said. It will be the company’s fourth operation outside of Jamaica, the others being processing facilities in Belize and distribution units in St Lucia and Barbados.
Jardim attributed the surge in exports to the growth of live lobster shipments to Asia and increased penetration in the Caribbean for the company’s range of seafood products.
Rainforest employs more than 6,000 workers regionally, the majority of them in its home market of Jamaica. The company, operational since 1995, distributes more than 400 types of fish, shellfish, and a variety of seafood products.