February 20, 2020
At Salada Food Limited’s 55th Annual General Meeting, Mrs. Dianna Blake-Bennett commented on the performance of the Company stating, “export revenue grew by 10% year on year, however, domestic sales outpaced export sales.” Additionally, “although there was a 7% increase in revenue, the impact of the Cess led to an increase of 17% on Cost of Sales,” according to Management. Thus, gross profit slipped 10% to $361.57 million (2018: $399.96 million). Notably, SALF’s profitability fell 36% to close at $141.37 million relative to $219.18 million for the same period in 2018. Mrs. Blake-Bennett stated that “the business was impacted by major events for the FY2019.” These included:
- The loss in production for two months due to a Boiler accident in October,
- The impact of the Cess on coffee green beans reduced profitability by $90 million,
- The rescuing Blue Mountain coffee industry by injecting $189 million into the local Coffee Industry
Accordingly, the Company’s investment of $189 million into the coffee industry allowed SALF:
- To connect with more than 300 farmers
- To provide $90 million in income to them
- To provide a new revenue stream from green bean sales
- The opportunity to develop premium products
Outlook:
The Company’s focus going forward was presented to shareholders present at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). These initiatives will see SALF targeting the following:
- Growing Exports
- Solidify partnerships with key retailers in USA, Canada, as well as follow through on marketing strategies, as Management believes growth prospects remain promising
- Connect to the diaspora
- Diversifying Strategies in order to mitigate the impact of cess
- Introduce non-coffee based products
- Growing Domestic Sales
- The Introduction of two new products this year (premium coffee and a line extension of ginger teas). This will be coupled with the Company’s continued push to enter new channels geared at increasing market share all around.
- Growing Contract Manufacturing and Bulk Sales
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