72 Years of Caribbean Coatings Excellence

Discover how a homegrown manufacturer adapts to changing markets while staying true to its regional roots

In the heart of Kingston, Jamaica, a 72-year-old manufacturing powerhouse continues to lead the Jamaican coatings industry. Berger Paints Jamaica, acquired by the ANSA McAL conglomerate six years ago, has built its reputation on creating specialized solutions for the unique challenges of tropical environments. “We’re a coatings business, not just a paints business, because we do a lot of industrial and other coatings solutions,” explains Dwaine Williams, General Manager of Berger Paints Jamaica Ltd. “Ninety-five percent of what we sell, we’re proud to say, we actually manufacture here on site.” Williams goes on to say that the “confidence, stewardship of the board of directors and continued investment of Berger’s parent company, ANSA Mcal, has been critical to the company’s transformation.

This local manufacturing focus has allowed Berger to develop market-leading products specifically designed for Caribbean conditions. “We’re very big in innovation, having developed multiple products such as our Berger 303, Berger 404, Everglow, and Magicote, which is our value brand,” says Williams. The company’s quality earned them distinction as the first regional company in the sector to attain ISO certification 9001 in 2002, followed by ISO 14001 certification in 2006.

Recent independent testing has further validated the company’s approach to creating region-specific products. “Last year we did a blind test with the Paint Research Association out of the UK, and we were ranked number one across a multiplicity of categories with our products rated as being best in class,” Williams notes with pride. “This shows that our Caribbean company in the tropics is making products for the needs of Caribbean consumers.” The company’s tagline, “for lasting beauty and protection,” encapsulates this mission to create coatings that withstand the harsh conditions of year-round sun, rain, and sea salt exposure.

Training and Technical Expertise

At Berger Paints, providing high-quality products is only half the equation; ensuring proper application is equally vital. “We support training, education, and ensure that customers are clear as to how to get the best out of our products,” Williams explains. “More often than not, issues with the finished project are mostly due to preparation and application, so the expert consultancy we provided is critical”

The company takes a consultative approach to customer support, starting with a thorough assessment of project requirements. “Understanding of the project’s specific needs includes evaluating the materials—whether metal or wood—and considering the environment in which the project will be located etc. For example, will it be near the sea, exposed to saltwater, or in a high-moisture area? These factors are crucial in selecting the appropriate coatings to ensure long-lasting beauty and protection.”

For large-scale projects like hotel construction or residential complexes, Berger deploys specialized teams to work directly with clients’ technical staff. “We’ll send our team in to meet with their experts and technical team to make sure that the formulations meet the specifications of the project and also that they’re specifying the right products for the right areas,” Williams notes. This targeted approach recognizes that different spaces have different requirements: what works for a maintenance room or engine room may not be suitable for general areas, given variations in traffic and industrial needs.

While Berger doesn’t have an in-house application team, they maintain a network of recommended applicators and service providers. “That ensures that we have no buyer’s remorse and the customer satisfaction that we so love to provide is what is received on the consumer’s end of things,” Williams adds.

Distribution Networks and Marketing Strategies

Berger Paints has established a robust regional presence through strategic manufacturing and distribution networks. “We are one of four plants. We have a plant here in Jamaica, one in Trinidad, one in Grenada, and one in Barbados,” Williams says. “Through this network of plants, we service our export markets depending on who is best situated based on the shipping route and expertise in terms of which brand is heavily manufactured out of which plant.”

The company operates as an omnichannel business with four distinct market segments: hardware, projects, automotive, and retail. While Berger manufactures most of its decorative and industrial products locally, they also distribute PPG, the global leader automotive paints through an Ansa McAl partnership..

Their current retail footprint includes three standalone “colour shops” dedicated exclusively to their product portfolio. A national sales team services customers from three regional hubs. “Our national sales team is geographically dispersed, and we service from three hubs, one in the east, one in central, and one in the west,” explains Williams. “Those salespeople go out every day and negotiate with customers, and we have a seamless delivery setup with our warehouse and logistics team.”

The company has developed a marketing strategy that aims to capture consumer attention at the point of decision across all channels. Their marketing toolkit includes digital media, billboards, on-site branding at partner hardware stores, and annual promotional campaigns. “What we sell is beauty, colour, and brightness, so we invest in lifting visibility in those locations to ensure our dynamic portfolio is seen as the colour destination for consumers,” Williams adds.

Investment and Product Innovation

Berger Paints’ innovation is anchored in its local manufacturing capabilities. “Almost everything we commercialize here, we manufacture,” Williams states. Recent capital investments have significantly expanded production capacity, particularly for our signature Trowel-On products. “We just spent 130 million Jamaican dollars to double our Trowel-On capacity. We’re the premier supplier of Trowel-On, not just in Jamaica but in the Caribbean,” he explains.

The company has also embraced automation. “We’ve invested in technology around streamlining and simplifying some of the work streams within the plant using automation around our filling lines, multi-head fillers to ensure that our capacity improvement has no bottleneck,” Williams says. “With our recently installed four head filler on one of our lines, we can fill four times as fast on our  paint as well.” This investment in technology is complemented by human resources, with staff receiving specialized training in paint manufacturing processes.

Product innovation continues to drive Berger’s market expansion. The Magicote brand, already the market’s volume leader, recently expanded its range. “Since last year, one of our brands, Magicote, has been the dominant brand by volume in the market. It is our value brand, but it was only available in flat options, and we have recently launched our Low Sheen colour options under the Magicote label,” Williams shares. “It’s doing extremely well and has been in the market for about three to four months and is showing extreme promise of taking pole position in the low sheen value segment, which is the fastest growing segment in coatings over the last couple of years.”

Caribbean Expertise and Community Engagement

For Berger Paints, being a Caribbean company is a core element of their business identity. The deep integration into local communities shapes everything from hiring practices to product development. “I am very proud to have inherited such a community focused business to lead, for example, at our headquarters here on Spanish Town Road in Kingston, the majority of our staff members come from neighboring communities, ” Williams says.

Community involvement includes active participation in local development. “We support schools, the civic associations around here, and try to play our part,” Williams explains. This philosophy extends to their recruitment strategy. “Our recruitment is focused on local talent. We do have about three or so roles occupied by non-nationals, but those non-nationals are from our sister company out of Trinidad.”

Employee retention highlights the company’s investment in its workforce. “A lot of the team members here have been here for over 10 years, and they’ll tell you that most of what they’ve been able to deliver in their personal life and growth has been through their employment here,” Williams shares. “We have a culture of ensuring that we reward, recognize and invest in staff education and  training. That’s something huge for us—that we set our people up to win and invest in them to prepare them not just for the now, but for what we see to be the future of the business.”

Supply Chain Resilience in a Global Market

The global supply chain disruptions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic challenged manufacturers worldwide, and Berger Paints was no exception. The company’s heavy reliance on imported materials necessitated creative solutions to maintain production continuity. “About 70 to 80% of our inputs are externally sourced. So having strong supplier networks and relationships is key,” Williams explains.

The pandemic experience prompted Berger to develop more resilient sourcing strategies. “What we learned through COVID is to balance an element of primary supply, and our lab and innovation team have built out a list of approved substitutes so that we have business continuity to ensure the plant is not forced to have any critical stoppage and loss of productivity,” says Williams. This preparation has created flexibility that extends beyond the pandemic era.

Berger’s regional structure offers unique advantages during supply challenges. “We have the benefit of being part of a matrix group of coatings companies that share similar brands, and that means we share similar ingredients,” Williams notes. “We’ve been able to source and buffer supply from Grenada, Barbados, and Trinidad if we’re in dire straits.” This intra-regional cooperation is particularly cost-effective. “Because we’re all within CARICOM, it allows for a cost-optimized secondary source.”

When asked about the key to Berger’s success, Williams redirects attention to the company’s human capital. “At the heart of our operations is our people, and the Berger brand is synonymous with Jamaica,” he says. “The Berger brand is synonymous with lasting beauty and protection.” This strong brand foundation, built over seven decades, has created enduring consumer loyalty. “In all my years, this is probably the first company I’ve worked for where there has never been an element of the consumer saying, ‘We do not love the brand.’ We don’t have a brand health issue from a consumer affinity standpoint.”

Growth, Sustainability, and Digital Transformation

As Berger Paints looks to the future, several strategic priorities drive planning. Market expansion tops the list, with Williams focusing on both domestic and international growth. “From my standpoint, it’s to continue to grow our market share. We want to continue being the ultimate leader in the industry,” he states. “Export is a huge focus for us, looking at new horizons that we will take our brands to.”

Innovation remains central to Berger’s strategy, especially as construction methods evolve. “This space is changing. For example, there’s a lot of buildings you’ll see now using cladding instead of painting, but that cladding itself needs to be refurbished with rustproof paint,” Williams explains. “So, we have developed that type of paint to complement what we’re losing in exterior coating.”

Digital transformation is also reshaping how Berger approaches business analytics and operational efficiency. “How do we weave that into our analytics? How do we bring that to bear in the plant? How do we use AI to optimize our business and to deliver insights so that we can act at pace?” Williams asks, outlining the company’s technological ambitions.

Environmental and social governance (ESG) initiatives figure prominently in Berger’s plans. “We’ve invested in solar and we have an artesian well on site that should be providing 100% of our water needs within the first half of this year,” Williams reveals. “We’re consistently looking at our ingredients to make sure that they’re more environmentally friendly, pushing our portfolio to be low VOC.” These efforts have already yielded results: “We have delivered optimization in our energy usage. It’s down 15% and we expect that to go up to about 25% in 2025.”

As Berger Paints Jamaica enters its eighth decade of operation, the company balances respect for its legacy with a forward-looking approach to business. By doubling down on local expertise while embracing global best practices, Berger continues to deliver value to customers, employees, and shareholders across the Caribbean region and beyond.

At a Glance

Who: Berger Paints Jamaica Ltd

What: Manufacturer of decorative, industrial, and specialty coatings with 72 years of operational experience.

Where: Kingston, Jamaica

Website: www.bergerpaintscaribbean.com/Jamaica

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