Sweet Success

From Selling Syrup in Drums to Exporting Rum Punch to the Diaspora, this 37-Year-Old Family Business Proves that in Jamaica’s Beverage Industry, the Secret Ingredient is Patience.

In 1988, Victor Chin started Very Amazing Products with a single mixing tank and three employees in Jamaica. Today, that modest operation has transformed into a 40,000 square foot manufacturing facility employing 120 people, producing everything from ketchup to rum punch for local and international markets.

“We started out selling syrup in drums. That was the only product we had at the time,” recalls Pierre Chin, Managing Director and one of Victor’s sons who now runs the family business. Very Amazing Products’ evolution follows Jamaica’s own manufacturing sector, which accounts for roughly one-eighth of the nation’s GDP and has increasingly focused on processed foods and beverages for export markets worth US $170.0 million annually.

The facility has grown incrementally over nearly four decades through strategic acquisitions and product diversification. “Over the years we started to grow. We came out with our own brand, which we were able to successfully market,” Chin explains. “Then over time we acquired two more filling lines, more tanks, more holding tanks. We went into bag juice, box drinks.” Each expansion represented a calculated risk in a market where Jamaican manufacturers must compete with established international brands while building local consumer loyalty.

What began as a supplier to other companies has evolved into a sophisticated operation with multiple certifications. Very Amazing Products now produces under its own “Pure” brand while maintaining contract manufacturing relationships with major regional players like Grace Kennedy and Lasco, balancing brand building with the steady revenue streams that private label production provides in Jamaica’s competitive beverage industry.

Contract Manufacturing Meets Brand Building

Jamaica’s beverage industry operates on razor-thin margins, where success often depends on diversifying revenue streams. For Very Amazing Products, the solution lies in a dual approach that leverages both contract manufacturing expertise and brand development.

“Basically, we are contract manufacturers. We do private label, and we have our own brand,” explains Chin. “We have our own distribution in place, and we also manufacture for distributors under their brand.” This strategy positions the company alongside major Jamaican food and beverage players like GraceKennedy and Wray & Nephew, who similarly balance proprietary products with manufacturing services.

The geographic split of their business reveals a company firmly rooted in Jamaica while building international reach. “I think probably our exports are about 20 to 25 percent of revenue,” Chin notes, with the remaining 75 percent serving local markets. Their primary export destination remains the United States, where “Eve Sales is our main distributor there that distributes our brand,” he confirms.

Contract manufacturing provides steady cash flow while allowing Very Amazing Products to invest in its Pure brand development. “We manufacture products on the private label for quite a few companies overseas,” Chin says. “We do some products for Grace Kennedy, LASCO.” These partnerships with established regional distributors offer more than just revenue, they provide insights into market trends and quality standards that benefit the company’s own product lines.

Product Development and Market Adaptation

The global syrup market has crossed $49.8 billion, driven by consumers seeking convenience and healthier alternatives to traditional sweeteners. “We have a department that focuses on product development,” says Chin. “The latest products that we have are TAD flavored waters.” In a market dominated by carbonated beverages, the company identified an opportunity to differentiate through unique flavor profiles that larger competitors overlooked.

“What we did was find a niche where we used unique flavors like lychee,” Chin explains. “So we have strawberry, pineapple, lychee, and cranberry flavors. Now the only one that’s been in the market already is cranberry for years, but to try to create a niche and introduce those other flavors, and it’s doing pretty well.”

Very Amazing Products’ flagship product remains syrup, which Chin describes as “our number one, that’s the core, but it is growing. We have quite a bit of promise that there has been significant growth, and it’s growing every month.” Production has evolved from bulk sales to retail-friendly packaging. “We have bottles, including gallon, half gallon, liter, 750 ml, 16 ounces, various sizes,” he details.

Bevan Antonio, Director of Sales and Marketing, highlights their newest venture into Jamaica’s rum heritage. “We have been looking at some traditional products, which a lot of focus has not been on locally and overseas. For example, rum punch,” Antonio explains. “We have introduced a product called Hard Punch Rum Punch. Rum punch is a traditional product for Jamaicans and in the diaspora. That is one of the products that we think will do well.”

Certifications and Skilled Workforce

In Jamaica’s food and beverage sector, where companies compete for both local shelf space and export markets, quality certifications serve as more than compliance checkmarks, they open doors to international distribution channels and premium pricing.

“We are SQF, FDA, and Jamaica Bureau Standards certified, and we are audited every year,” Chin emphasizes. These certifications represent significant investments in processes and training, particularly for a company that started with just three employees.

The workforce at Very Amazing Products has expanded dramatically from those early days. “We started with three people, we employed three people, and today we have 120 people,” Chin notes. Building this team required strategic partnerships with educational institutions to secure specialized talent.

“We have the core factory workers, and they’re highly trained,” Chin explains. “We have some very qualified people overall here, a lot of qualified people in admin, HR, and especially the quality department, which is the core because we realize that the only way we can have growth is to have proper management in place with a lot of skilled people.”

For technical positions, Very Amazing Products relies on Jamaica’s premier educational institution. “The University of West Indies has a placement center. So, if we need somebody who is qualified to fill a particular position, we would call them and they would tell us who they have available,” Chin says. “Most of the time for skilled people, that’s the route we go, straight to the university.”

Antonio adds perspective on their ongoing talent needs: “We’re always looking to hire more, and we have consistently been recruiting more technical and more skilled labor, especially based on the direction that we’re going in terms of equipment and document management.”

Technology, Sustainability, and Supply Chain Resilience

Jamaica’s manufacturing sector faces mounting pressure to modernize operations while maintaining cost competitiveness. As Very Amazing Products eyes export markets, technology adoption and environmental compliance have become prerequisites rather than options.

“In terms of equipment, we are always upgrading. Basically, we are close to the latest, maybe there’s a five-year lag,” Chin explains. At the same time, environmental sustainability extends beyond regulatory compliance to operational efficiency. “We have a sophisticated water treatment plant which not only provides very high-quality water to make products, but even our wastewater is treated as well,” Antonio details. 

The COVID-19 pandemic tested supply chains globally, but strategic planning kept Very Amazing Products’ operations running. “Fortunately for us, we didn’t close the factory during COVID,” Antonio reveals. “We ran right through nonstop and were able to continue to source raw materials consistently and at good prices. Some of the prices are even coming down.”

This resilience stems from deliberate redundancy in sourcing. “We have primary and secondary suppliers, so we are always on top of the raw materials in terms of even future purchases for them. Things like sugar, for example,” Antonio explains.

Digital transformation covers administrative functions as well. “We have already started to use software which manages documentation for things like batch processing as well as maintenance,” Antonio notes. “We are making use of software and doing things with less physical paper and more use of computers.”

Marketing in the Digital Age

Caribbean food and beverage companies like Very Amazing Products increasingly recognize that traditional marketing alone cannot capture younger consumers or compete with international brands’ digital presence. “Currently we use a lot of social media. We’re on most of the social media platforms: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok,” Antonio explains. “We do a lot of online campaigns, and we also use traditional media in terms of radio and television as well, and visuals like billboards.”

The marketing mix points to a pragmatic approach to reaching diverse consumer segments across different touchpoints. “We do most of our advertising online and some face-to-face marketing through events and setups in store,” Antonio continues. “That way, we get the product directly to customers. That’s how we mainly drive the marketing efforts.”

Understanding the customer base shapes these strategic choices. Very Amazing Products’ offerings span demographic groups, from everyday household staples to premium offerings. “Largely our customer base consists of households because of the type of products we do, which are beverages primarily,” Antonio notes. “But we do have another segment for beverages which are more geared towards adults.”

Direct consumer engagement through in-store demonstrations and event marketing provides immediate feedback on new products while building brand recognition. For a company competing against multinational beverage corporations with massive advertising budgets, these grassroots tactics offer cost-effective ways to establish personal connections with consumers. The approach particularly resonates in Jamaica’s close-knit communities, where word-of-mouth recommendations carry significant weight in purchasing decisions.

Expansion Plans and Family Legacy

Very Amazing Products with established domestic success is expertly capturing and capitalizing on the robust Jamaica beverage market that has now reached US $170.5 million in exports.

“Our numbers are going up. I can say over the last 10 years we have gone up more than 80 percent,” Antonio reports. “But over the last two years we have seen growth year on year of like 25 to 30 percent.” Current performance puts them ahead of projections. “Even this year, year on year, we are like 20 percent ahead.”

International expansion targets reflect strategic market analysis rather than geographic convenience. “We’re trying to get that up from where it is now, which is 20 to 25 percent, to at least 35 to 40 percent in the next two years,” Antonio outlines. When asked about target markets, he clarifies: “Well, the UK market is actually bigger for us currently, especially with the diaspora.”

The Jamaican diaspora, numbering over 800,000 in the UK and 1.1 million in the US, represents a natural customer base for traditional products. “Syrup is still the flagship product. We sell a lot to the diaspora in the UK, which is significant,” Antonio explains. “The diaspora who are immigrants to that country from Jamaica still continue to use the product. So, we sell a whole lot in the UK as compared to the US currently.”

Ensuring continuity across generations remains paramount for Very Amazing Products. 

“My brother Andre Chin (Executive Chairman) and I are part of the second generation, and we are joined by the 3rd generation Paige Chin (General Manager) and Luke Chin (Director – Product Development, Procurement & Marketing),” Chin Confirms. “So we have a succession plan in place.”

At a Glance

Who: Very Amazing Products

What: Contract manufacturer and brand owner producing syrups, beverages, ketchup, wines, vinegar, and rum punch for local and international markets

Where: Jamaica

Website: www.vapja.com

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