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Business View Caribbean
ucts for the oil industry were imported to Jamaica from
British Paints, which at the time, owned Berger Paints
India. There are three sister companies in the Carib-
bean group: Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad/Tobago.
Berger Paints Trinidad Limited was incorporated in
1967, and began manufacturing its own product line
of paints and coatings. Today, Berger International
Ltd., the parent company, is owned by Asian Paints
Ltd., an Indian chemicals company, which operates
in 18 countries, worldwide, and is headquartered in
Mumbai.
According to Omawatie Birbal, General Manager of
Berger Paints Trinidad, the company’s founding coin-
cided with the island’s transition from whitewashed,
earthen houses to wooden structures that required
not only more colorful coatings, but products that of-
fered greater surface protection to homes and build-
ings against harsh weather conditions of the Carib-
bean region. Today, Berger’s products are widely
distributed across an extensive network of color shops
and hardware stores. Together, the three Berger Paint
companies, with their 250 permanent employees, ex-
port to all neighboring islands and as far as Suriname
in South America, and Belize in Central America.
Birbal says that competition is stiff among local and
imported brands. However Berger Trinidad has several
significant advantages over its competitors, including
being owned by a global paint entity, which provides
access to dedicated research and technology in the in-
dustry, consolidated raw material purchases, efficient
management systems, and access to the highest qual-
ity raw materials; all working to provide consumers
with premium quality products at affordable prices.
Birbal continues: “We offer a wide range of products
to meet the needs of every customer; from economy
to premium, to ultra-premium. We have coatings for
light and heavy-duty industrial protective coatings,
high heat, low heat, water products, and solvent-based
products; so basically, we can serve every customer’s
