Tijule

2 Business View CARIBBEAN Tijule Compa Authentic Jamaican Goes Global Tijule Company Ltd. is a 28-year-old family owned and operated agro-processing company that manufactures and exports high-value, high-quality food products made from a variety of indigenous Jamaican fruits and vegetables. Its product mix includes canned ackee and callaloo, seasonings that come in the forms of pastes or rubs, sauces in a variety of versions – hot, spicy, sweet, jams and jellies – that are made from seasonal Jamaican fruits, and dips bearing the Juliana and Nel’s Old Time branding. It was founded by a scientist, Dr. Juliet Newell, who died early in 2013, and is now managed by her neph- ew, Roy Newell, alongside an experienced manage- ment team. Tijule is the largest employer in Jamaica’s Palmers Cross district with a full-time workforce of 80 employees and more than 150 more who are brought in on a seasonal basis – 90 percent of whom are fe- male. Its facilities cover just more than two acres of land, in the form of a 30,000-plus square foot building that houses all administrative and factory personnel. “We are proud to be the company supplying an income to the many farm families located in center of the is- land, who supply all of our natural ingredients for the products,” Roy Newell said. “Tijule embodies a family company. The atmosphere itself is warm and friendly. Workers genuinely care for one another. Dr. Newell was that kind of an individual and some persons have been around for 25 years. “She cared deeply for her community, the farmers and her workers. She was integral to the formation of the only ackee association in Jamaica with the objective that farmers were given a fair deal and supplied the best produce.” The initial focus of the business was on contract pack- aging for North American and European customers, while supplementing that revenue via domestic work