The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian Brewery and Beverage Company’s founder yesterday admitted he had taken “a big risk” with his latest multi-million dollar expansion phase, which has created 30 jobs since last year.

Jimmy Sands told Tribune Business that the Freeport-based brewery “had to expand” despite the struggling economy, and even before it took over the Bahamian distribution for Budweiser and all Anheuser-Busch brands in late 2015.

Acknowledging that it had been “challenging” for the company to cope with so many major changes in such a short period of time, Mr Sands said he hoped the Bahamian Brewery would act as “a great example” for what other Bahamian entrepreneurs could achieve.

“We’ve done some more expansion at the Brewery in Freeport,” he told Tribune Business, “and invested probably a good couple of million in increasing production and adding storage.

“The staff count was probably about 70, and now it’s up to 100. We’ve updated some equipment and expanded production; it’s expanding all the time. We’ve taken on since I last talked to you [2015] about 30 extra people, and the expansion is still going on from last year.”

The brewer of Sands Beer, and other popular Bahamian beverages, acknowledged that the anaemic economic climate was weighing heavily on businesses when making job-creating investment decisions.

Disclosing that the Bahamian Brewery’s total investment was not “well beyond” the $20 million mark, Mr Sands said: “I’m taking a big risk, but we had to expand.

“I knew the expansion was going to take place even before Anheuser-Busch came on. With that in mind, and taking on Anheuser-Busch,it escalated the expansion plans we had set forth prior.”

Mr Sands said the Bahamian Brewery had already set “other things in motion down the road”, but declined to go into detail on future growth plans, saying simply: “I’m not in a position to divulge that.”

However, he expressed hope that other Bahamian entrepreneurs would be encouraged to emulate his company’s success in carving out a market niche against deep-pocketed foreign competition.

The Bahamian Brewery has had to go head-to-head with New Providence-based Commonwealth Brewery, which is BISX listed and 75 per cent owned by global brewing giant, Heineken, ever since it came into existence in 2005-2006.

“I want to take the company to where it stands on solid ground,” Mr Sands told Tribune Business of the Bahamian Brewery.

“Before it was in a very vulnerable position, and I want a well-established, well-run, efficient and well recognised company. I’m on the way.

“The company has grown tremendously, and it’s been a challenge to meet these changes. It’s all been done through local people, such as myself and my colleagues- all Bahamians.”

He added: “I was thinking the other day that it’s quite an achievement for us, given that we usually bow and roll out the carpet for people from the outside.

“It’s a pleasure to see a Bahamian company doing what it’s doing in our country. It’s refreshing, and hopefully it spurs other companies on. It’s hopefully a very good example for others.”

Mr Sands and the Bahamian Brewery scored one of their biggest successes to-date late last year, when it snatched the Anheuser-Busch contract away from Commonwealth Brewery.

Arguing that Anheuser-Busch’s brands, including Budweiser, had previously been “neglected”, Mr Sands said the distribution deal had given the Bahamian Brewery a new dimension to its business.

He explained that it had transformed the company from a local manufacturer into a diversified business with a distribution arm, and one with a strong international link.

“Someone told me the other day: ‘Jimmy, you’ve got the balls of an elephant’,” Mr Sands told Tribune Business. “There’s a big elephant in the south-west, so I need balls.

“All our eggs are now not in one basket. We want to grow it and expand it [the Anheuser-Busch contract], and do what should have been done years ago. As far as I’m concerned, it was neglected for many years, but is a good fit for our company.”

Mr Sands said the Anheuser-Busch distribution deal had created around 10 jobs for his company, and the Bahamian Brewery had “achieved what we need to achieve” in the first six months.

“It’s enhanced our business,” he added. “What it’s done, it’s opened several other doors and stuff like that. It’s strengthened the company as a whole. Before we just had Sands and the Bahamian products; now we have an international group with us.”