60 Business View Caribbean - Nov 2014
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
JAMAICA
