Conglomerate stands firm in food and finances

Jamaican conglomerate GraceKennedy is pushing for more growth locally, having been satisfied with the level of growth taking place by the company outside of the country.

GraceKennedy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Don Wehby has disclosed that the company is expecting to grow more, locally, admitting that strategy set in place has more potential to grow outside of Jamaica at a faster rate.

Speaking earlier this week at Mayberry’s Investor Forum, Wehby detailed the successes of the company, as he emphasised its performance-driven culture.

SUBSIDIARIES ACROSS THE WORLD

GraceKennedy has grown to become one of the largest conglomerates in the Caribbean since its inception in 1922. The group includes subsidiaries across the world, namely Europe, North America and the Caribbean.

Wehby pointed out that over the years the group has maintained positive results through the implementation of four driving factors, commonly called Strategic Drivers. These entail sustainable growth and innovation; consumer centricity; internal processes and a performance-driven culture.

Vision of being global consumer group

GraceKennedy is popularly known for manufacturing and distributing a diverse range of food and non-food products internationally as well as financial services for customers and prospects.

“Our vision at GraceKennedy is to be a global consumer group long-term and shareholders value, through brand building and innovative solutions in food and financial services provided by highly skilled and motivated individuals,” Wehby said.

He drew reference to the good financial performance of GraceKennedy Group for 2020, which he credited to the team, board, frontline workers in a time of the pandemic, executing well and our strategic drivers.

GRACEKENNEDY REPRESENTS FIVE COMPANIES WORLDWIDE

Wehby told the Mayberry Investor’s Forum on Wednesday, “we have defined a Global Consumer Group at GraceKennedy as a company that has 60 per cent of its revenues earned outside of Jamaica. However, we are currently at 46.6 per cent so we have some work to do to reach that target. Fifty per cent is derived outside of Jamaica and we are currently at 45 per cent and third, we want to leverage our relationships with multinationals and form partnerships to enhance our offerings”. 

Additionally, GraceKennedy represents approximately five companies worldwide through partnership, particularly Western Union, P&G, Nestle. Wehby added that, “53.7 per cent of our revenue is in Jamaica compared to 55.7 per cent; 27.3 per cent of our revenues are now in North America, the United States and Canada, so we have seen significant growth in the US market; the Caribbean represents 6.8 per cent and the UK, and Europe is 12.9 per cent”.