Jul 2008 Financial News

Lascelles to market Angostura products

Jul 30, 2008

Lascelles Limited, a subsidiary company of the Wray and Nephew Group, will be distributing the full range of Angostura Limited's products in the Jamaican market with the exception of one.

Michael Carballo, executive director of Angostura, said his company was not looking to dominate the market.

The products launched here Monday included Angostura's low-sodium teriyaki, soy and worchestershire sauces, aromatic bitters, Caribbean club rum punch, Angostura 1824, Royal Oak and Angostura 1919.

The launch occurred on the same day that Angostura and parent CL Financial Group completed the US$9.25 per share purchase of Wray and Nephew's parent, Lascelles deMercado, to secure an 81 per cent stake in the conglomerate.

Lascelles started distributing Angostura's products on July 21, having taken the distributorship of Angostura Bitters from T. Geddes Grant Limited and Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited, which represented Angosutra's Hard Wine.

"We are going to represent all of their products except for the lemon lime and bitters," said Bruce Terrier managing director of Lascelles Limited, referring to a canned product called LLB distributed by Wisynco Group Limited.

"We've improved the distribution already and have already got it into more places," Terrier told Wednesday Business.

Terrier said the distribution arrangement would represent less than five per cent of Angostura's worldwide sales, and that the rum products was expected to corner a minute share of that market here.

"I don't think we'll achieve more than one per cent," said Terrier.

"It's just very difficult to get market share in the rum market," he told Wednesday Business at the launch of the products at Devon House in Kingston on Monday.

Carballo said they would be going after the tourism market, but would not comment on volumes.

There are no plans, the companies said, for the Lascelles group to manufacture any of Angostura's products here.


Source:
The Jamaica Gleaner
Wednesday 30 July, 2008
susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080730/business/business3.html