Tljule products - CONTRIBUTED
JULIETTE NEWELL, Ph.D, founder and owner of Tijule Company Limited is one person to whom you could apply that phrase, 'Perseverance will make you conquer.'
A professional food scientist who has 36 years of experience in dietetics, nutrition and food research development, Dr. Newell, has positioned her company as an export-driven operation, with approximately 80 per cent of the output being exported directly to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Japan, and the balance sold to other exporters and locally.
The company, which commenced operations over 21 years ago, is located in Clarendon and occupies just over two acres of prime commercial land.
Tijule utilises over 30,000 square feet of building space, producing an exceptional line of products which includes canned and frozen fruits and vegetables, flavourful sauces, seasonings, dips and condiments, exotic and gourmet jams, jellies, marmalades, fruit cheese/bars and bammies. The company also manufactures sauces and other products to customers' specifications and tastes.
The company uses the rich variety of Jamaica's fruits and vegetables purchased from local farmers to make its line of products. Among these are breadfruit, ackee, callalloo, cassava, guava, pineapples and bananas, jackfruit, citrus, passion fruit, ginger, mangoes, tamarind, apples, spices and herbs.
"I never turn back any of my suppliers, even if all they have is a bagful of escallions. They have to live too," says Dr. Newell. She points out that the company semi-processes and stores raw materials to ensure that there is always a supply.
She readily admits that the weather conditions have sometimes forced the company to import in order to meet order deadlines. Items such as peppers and escallions are imported from Costa Rica, which has a vibrant agriculture industry.
IT WAS NO EASY ROAD
Tijule today is a major player in exports, contributing to Jamaica's over US$300 million in non traditional export earnings, but according to the founder of the company it was no easy road.
"The 1980s was a difficult period, especially for a woman," said Dr. Newell. "Banks saw us as high risks and they were not too willing to give loans unless men were on the Board of Directors. As a woman in business, you had to get a lawyer to verify that you were of sound mind and could manage a business."
Newell said determination was what pulled her through, as interest rates at that time were very high. "There were times when I couldn't meet my pay bill," she added.
EXPORT THAT IMPROVED BUSINESS
When asked what she would say to someone who wants to go into exports, her reply was emphatic. "Export is the way to go." According to her, expanding into exports has allowed her to stay in business and to pay the bills. "It is the best thing to do to earn hard currency."
She had high praise for the Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA) an entity which she said "held my hand" and pointed her in the right direction. The Association, she said, opened up windows of opportunities for new export markets and ways to obtain low interest funding from institutions such as the World Bank. This funding she said was used as working capital and to upgrade her factory so that she could meet internationally accepted standards.
Meeting International Standards
The company has been duly certified under the HACCP programme. Just about all products have been examined and inspected by officials of importing countries. A case in point is ackee exports, which recently came under the microscope from the US Food and Drug Administration. Agreement has been reached between the JEA and the FDA, which will allow continuation of ackee exports to the USA.
Tijule has also satisfied all quality and customer satisfaction goals with the implementation of the Total Quality Management (TOM) system, which ensures that every facet of the production process is carried out at the highest standards.
Manufacturing, research and distribution activities are also undertaken using globally accepted standards for best practices in hygiene, operational functions and processing.
Products are attractively labelled, clearly listing all ingredients utilised, to conform to accepted international standards.
Tijule's highly trained staff complement consists of 25 permanent members experienced in maintenance, production and quality control. Additional day and task workers are employed during peak seasons.
On the Horizon
Tijule Company Limited is now manufacturing and packaging an interesting and tasty selection of "frozen complete meals", as well as "frozen semi-processed meals" packaged especially for the convenience of the busy, time-conscious consumer. This new product will be attractive enough to fit into an already defined niche in the marketplace.
The company recently signed an agreement with an international fast food chain to use its bammy (cassava bread) as a breakfast staple in one of its dishes. This is evidence of trust and credibility, of satisfied customers and the high quality of the products.
Dr. Newell says the company is preparing itself for a sizeable international market. In anticipation of this it continues to research and develop innovative products bearing the 'NEL's' and 'JULIANA'S' labels manufactured by Tijule Company. Among them are frozen and semi-processed meals such as frozen roast breadfruit slices with ackee and saltfish, frozen bammies with escoveitched fish and frozen sweet potato pudding mix. Others still in the development stage are canned yellow yam slices in brine and canned whole black mangoes in syrup.
As the Jamaica Exporters Association commemorate is 40th year, it salutes the achievements of Tijule, one of the pioneers in exports, and lauds it for being a central player in the move to build a solid foundation for continued development of Jamaica's export market and Jamaica Brand We Love.
