Express Catering to grow airport shop count to 31

Express Catering Limited, ECL, will increase its store count from 24 to 31 at the Sangster International Airport this year, fuelled by US$8 million in funding.

“We invested in the new food court and upgraded other areas. We anticipate that investment would bring a nice return for us,” said Express Catering CEO Ian Dear in an interview on Monday.

Dear said that the financing covers the food company’s ongoing expansion at the airport, working capital, and the redemption of its preference shares.

The food court project forms part of a wider expansion at the Montego Bay-based airport by operator MBJ Airports Limited. MBJ embarked on the refurbishment of the post-security sections of the airport that will add some 4,000 square metres of retail space. The food court segment should be completed by the close of calendar 2022, Express Catering has said.

Dear controls ECL through Margaritaville St Lucia Inc, with Margaritaville Caribbean Group Limited as the ultimate parent.

Pre-pandemic, the incoming and outgoing passenger traffic through Sangster International numbered more than four million annually. The movements for last year was 2.59 million.

Dear previously told the Financial Gleaner that, on average, three of every four airline passengers make a purchase from Express Catering’s network of shops. He expects the expansion to improve the company’s capture rate among departing passengers. Last year, Sangster’s recorded a total of 1.28 million departing passengers, and those number are expected to climb this year amid continuing recovery of the travel market.

Rock and roll

The winter season, which kicks off annually in mid-December, started strong but eventually weakened due to the rise of the omicron variant of COVID-19. but, he added, tourism travel began increasing again in the third week of February.

“It is now rock and roll,” he declared. “So, we see momentum going into April and we anticipate that it will continue into summer.”

Dear expects travel to continue its recovery this year, but would not speculate on whether the numbers for 2022 would surpass 2019 levels.

Express Catering currently operates multiple international food franchises, including Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, Moe’s Southwest Grill, International Dairy Queen, Quiznos, Auntie Anne’s, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, Cinnabon, Wendy’s, Starbucks and Domino’s, as well as a number of proprietary and Jamaican food and beverage brands, including Bobsled Café, Tastee Patties, Viva Gourmet, Grab N Go, and Groovy Grouper. It recently secured franchise rights to seven restaurants brands – which will boost its two dozen restaurants in the airport to 31 – including Bob Marley One Love Café, which will result in the first location for the franchise globally; Bento Sushi, one of the largest sushi companies outside of Japan; and Freshëns Fresh Food Studio, a health-focused casual dining restaurant.

Its current operations delivered revenue of US$6.13 million over six months ending November 2021, and earnings of US$244,300. It reversed a loss of US$1.66 million in the similar period in 2020.

ECL said last year it expects the new offerings to add US$3 million to annual revenue, initially, and then US$5 million the next financial year, which for the food services company closes annually in May. Dear did not respond to queries on whether those projections still hold.

He is concerned that higher commodity prices arising from the Russian war in Ukraine, but even more so about the potential bottlenecks and delays in the delivery of imported supplies for ECL’s stores.

“The biggest concern is the global supply chain, the cost of goods and availability of goods, and also the availability of workers,” he said.

steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com