Business View Caribbean | September 2022

31 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 9, ISSUE 9 – everything that we want a shopper to think about when they buy and consume the Tastee Cheese.” DIJL have been working with their distribution partners to not only have the cheese available in areas with concentrated pockets of Jamaicans and their families, but also to extend further into the geographic regions. “We’ve actually been putting some additional resources there,” Hanson says, “to make sure we can go into the Midwest, over the western and the southeastern belt of the U.S., and to ensure product availability. Our team has been working diligently on expanding into new markets and the development of our export business which aligns with the GK Foods Division target of having 50% of sales being export by 2030.” When it comes to yogurt and cultured products, DIJL are hoping to penetrate the hotel and tourism sector, once again now that the pandemic has waned. This is one of the biggest industries in Jamaica, along with the service industry; the company was operating strongly in that sector before COVID. Apart from their yogurt sales that are rebounding strongly, and that they’re very positive about, Dairy Industries Jamaica are also working on some alternative cultured items that Hanson says they are very excited about. He explains, “Everything we are conceptualizing now wouldn’t just be in a retail format but also in a food service format, so we can have our offerings available to a wider section of end users and consumers.” Ever the innovators, DIJL are also ramping up the brand equity with some of their lesser known brands. “We currently have powdered milk, which is our “Good2Grow” brand focused on kids,” Hanson says. “But in recent times, we’ve launched a drinkable yogurt with the same brand, so we can increase that brand equity and increase offerings to a younger consumer group. It’s definitely all about the marketing there. We’ve been working very closely with our distributors and business development team to DA I RY INDUSTR I ES JAMA I CA L IMI TED