Business View Caribbean, November/December 2018

36 37 Today, the company’s product range includes premium quality interior and exterior topcoats, primers, stains, varnishes, furniture finishes, road marking paints, enamels, as well as light and heavy duty industrial finishes. Following in the footsteps of its namesake, Berger Paints Barbados continues to excel at innovation in the paint in- dustry with the aim of meeting and exceeding the needs of customers.New products such as Berger Weatherproof Ultra (Super Premium exterior emul- sion), and Berger Royale (Super premium interior pure acrylic emulsion), define Berger’s commitment to keeping pace with changing technology and consumer demand for quality and value. Andrea Duguid, Marketing Manager for Berger Paints Barbados describes the local evolution of the company: “For many years, British Paints imported coating products into Barbados from England. Then, in 1963, they amalgamated with Berger Paints Barbados and began production here at that time.We later moved to a bigger facility in St. Michael, where we have been since 1971. The idea was to make paint here that would be suitable for Caribbean weather and BERGER PAINTS BARBADOS LIMITED temperature, particularly, in the outer islands. So, Barbados became an export hub for the smaller English-speaking islands in the east, stretching as far as Anguilla in the North, to Grenada in the South. Similar Berger operations were established in Trinidad and Jamaica, with each servicing ex- clusive markets.” Berger Paints Barbados manufactures all their paint in one location in St. Michael, Barbados. On-site research and technology (R&T) are also an important component, recognizing that organ- isms affecting surfaces in the Caribbean are not the same as those in other areas.The R&T teamworks to adapt coating formulations to suit the kinds of organisms, i.e. fungi and algae that grow on a variety of surfaces. Berger Barbados is involved with the marine industry to a limited extent, but 70 percent of their manufacturing involves dec- orative products. They also do protective coating (PC) finishes for industrial applications. Shashi Mahase, General Manager of Berger Paints Barbados, explains, “Berger Barbados, Trini- dad, and Jamaica are all manufacturers under the same owners –The Ansa McAl Group of Compa- nies. Therefore, to optimize efficiencies and man- age inventory levels, one company might produce products to meet the needs of the other units, instead of manufacturing the same products