Durrant Pate/Contributor

Having acquired the Swirls pastry brand on June 1 and its retail pastry shop in the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre, Jamaican baking giant Honey Bun is on an expansion roll with plans to expand the business even further.

This will be done with a planned investment of up to J$100 million in additional capital over the next two to three years, which includes expanding the Swirls brand in strategic locations as well as equipment. 

The future investment in the fast food business comes with the integration of the Swirls brand and the intention to build out more pastry shops to enhance Honey Bun’s product portfolio, offering a wider variety of baked goods and meals to meet the growing consumer demand.

Swirls and Honey Bun both majority-owned by Chongs

Interestingly, the Swirls brand and pastry shops have been sold by its owners Michelle Chong and her husband Herbert, who both lead Honey Bun in the capacity of CEO and co-founder in the case of Michelle and executive chairman and co-founder in the case of Herbert.

Combined, they own the second biggest block of shares in Honey Bun.

Both Honey Bun and Swirls are known for making sweet pastry products. Honey Bun owns a large bakery on Retirement Road while Swirls bakes and sells its products from the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre.

Two months ago, Honey Bun announced that it would be spending J$1 billion to create a new production facility in Angels, St Catherine, as it pushes forward with its expansion. The new plant is set to more than double the manufacturing capacity of the baking company. 

Honey Bun, which operates Jamaica’s first HACCP-certified bakery will see the first phase of construction on this expanded baking and warehousing facility well underway. Honey Bun recently signed the long-term lease agreement for the 160,000-square-foot mega-facility.

The long-term lease of the new four-and-a-half-acre property, which will be operational in the next seven to 10 months, will initially see Honey Bun moving half of its operation from its current Retirement Crescent property in St Andrew.

The new property makes access to major markets more efficient while allowing us to answer the call from our customers for greater supply. The company produces several variations of over a dozen products resulting in a range of over 40 stock keeping units (SKUs) from three brands Honey Bun, Island Bites, and Buccaneer Jamaican Rum Cakes