apr-2017c

54 55 BEVERAGES AND COATINGS KARL H. MENZIES COMPANY LIMITED Karl H. MENZIES Company Limited K arl H. Menzies Company Limited was founded in 1969, in Belize by Karl and Dorothy Menzies. “My dad had been working for British Honduras Distributors and he had almost singlehandedly put Heineken (beer) into the market,” says Kay Menzies, the company’s current Managing Director. “On hearing he was leaving his job for another position, Heineken said to him, ‘If you want to start up your own business, we will be your brand.’ It was an opportu- nity he couldn’t say ‘No’ to. So, he started the business with a six thousand dollar credit line and an old truck. He started as the Heineken distrib- utor and picked up other agencies along the way. Belize, being a very small market at that time, it was a matter of what you could sell. So,