Sept / Oct 2016 | Business View Caribbean

104 September 2016 - Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean - September 2016 105 We are also actively in discussions with a company out of Trinidad and one out of Jamaica, and, hopefully, by the end of this year, we will also be co-packing for those two companies.” Should all of those partnerships come to pass, Phil- lip says that SKBC will likely have to increase its pro- duction schedule, and move from one shift per day to two. It will also have to improve its production equip- ment. “Our equipment is about nine years old and with any aging equipment, there would be the problems of breakdowns, obsolescence, etc.,” he explains. “And so, in order for us to achieve what our projected goal is in terms of production, we will have to acquire certain upgrades in our equipment.” Another company goal is to become fully ISO-compli- ant. “We are working towards November of this year as the time that we would be ISO-22000-compliant,” Phil- lip says. (ISO 22000 allows a company to show their customers that they have a Food Safety Management System in place.) “We already are up to speed and we are doing all the ‘heads-up checks,’ etc. Had we been ISO-certified before, we would have already signed off on some of the co-pack arrangements that we are pur- suing,” he adds, ruefully. Nonetheless, Phillip is justifiably proud of the compa- ny’s products and the care it takes in making sure that they are pure and safe for its customers to drink. “We have a full, working lab staffed by three persons,” he says. “All the products that leave our plant can only do so after our Quality Supervisor has stamped it ‘Good to Go.’ If not, the product will remain in our plant. We also have a good traceability program in place. And if, by chance, we have a problem with any of our products in the market, we can trace that product to its origin – either the date it was produced so that we can take samples, or the supplier of the raw material, so that they, too, can trace it back to the batch item that they sent to us.” Phillip is also proud of the company’s transparency. “Our plant is open for anyone who wishes to visit us and see our processes. So, we regularly will have per- sons visit us,” he declares. “Yesterday, we had per- sons from one of the government departments who wanted to come by and see our production methods and what goes into the producing of our water. And so,