National Rums of Jamaica Ltd.

last year, underscoring that the finest branded rums come from National Rums of Jamaica.” National Rums has approximately 110 em- ployees who work in its distilleries and head office. According to Harrison, the company ex- pects to achieve double-digit growth over the next few years due to an aggressive marketing focus that has started penetrating new markets, while also creating new brands under its Mon- ymusk label. “We don’t do a lot of advertising,” says Harrison. “On the local scene, we have two distributors who cover the entire island. Interna- tionally, we attend rum shows and exhibitions, and through that methodology, we engage play- ers in the industry and develop relationships as well, as we leverage our partners/shareholders.” Jamaica is well-known for its rum production, and Harrison says that there are three or four other local companies that National Rums com- petes with. “But our competitors are really the rest of the world – the U.S. Virgin Islands, Pana- ma, Trinidad, Barbados – they produce bulk rum from the Caribbean, as well. But locally, in the bulk space, we are the market leaders,” he states. One of the company’s challenges according to Harrison is getting enough local molasses, the main raw material for producing rum, which comes from cane sugar processing, to supply its needs. “Right now, the sugar cane that is avail- able to be converted to sugar with its molasses by-product, is only half of our current require- ments,” he opines.“If I want to grow my business