New feed forged from mutually beneficial relationship

Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer

A mutually beneficial relationship forged through harsh economic realities is how executives are describing the collaboration which resulted in yesterday's official launch of the Seprod-produced Corn Mash, a new livestock feed supplement, on the grounds of the Jamaica Livestock Association (JLA) headquarters at 2C Newport East, Kingston.

"Since we have the distribution network, they found it more suitable to go through us, so it will be a mutually beneficial arrangement," Richard Rainford, the JLA's purchasing manager, told The Gleaner.

In confirming this, Marcia Kitson-Walters, Seprod Limited's sales/marketing manager, pointed to the JLA's extensive islandwide distribution network.

"Why we partner with the JLA is that already, they have the target markets. They have the distribution channels. We sell from the plant as well, but we don't have the reach, and a lot of the farmers are all the way in rural Jamaica. So the partnership is really to capitalise on the synergy that Jamaica Livestock Association has, in that they have the distribution channel, they already go to these places, hence the reason for making them the major distributor."

Meanwhile, according to Paul Watson, plant manager for Jamaica Grains & Cereals Limited, a subsidiary of Seprod Limited, the outcome of this pilot project could pave the way for further collaboration.

"We have wide distributorship of our main commodity products, but here is a speciality product to assist farmers. We are going to rely heavily on the JLA, and yes, we could expand it to other products as well," he told The Gleaner during the official launch.

Growing demand

Following a soft launch of Corn Mash at a farmers' market held at the Ministry of Agriculture's head offices last month, demand has been growing steadily.

The Gleaner has learnt that with the high cost of feed, some livestock farmers have been cutting back on the amount given to their animals, which, in turn, has resulted in a sales decline for the JLA range of animal feeds.

Corn Mash, one industry insider revealed, provides an ideal solution for all involved in rearing livestock.

"It is low cost compared to existing feeds on the market, and without compromising nutritional value, farmers can now go back to giving their animals the required amount of feed at a reasonable price," he advised.