Goods not short but delivery a challenge, distributors say
Published:Sunday | November 16, 2025 | 12:06 AMLuke Douglas - Senior Business Reporter
Large distributors say they are open for business and have adequate supplies of goods at this time but are experiencing some challenges in getting products to the areas of Jamaica hardest hit by Hurricane Melissa.
Glen Christian, chairman and CEO of Cari-Med Group, said his company is now seeking to identify their customers affected by the hurricane, to help get them back on their feet.
“We have had adequate inventory and we are back up running smoothly. We have no supply issue as we speak. My team is out there just trying to identify our customers and to determine whatever help that we can give to them,” Christian told the Financial Gleaner.
GraceKennedy Group, a large manufacturer and supplier of food and other consumer products, said distribution of goods in western Jamaica has been hampered because the retail sector in the region is not fully back on its feet, with many shops yet to reopen since the hurricane.
“While road access has largely been restored and our GK distribution centres are operational, many of our customers in western Jamaica have not yet reopened and are currently unable to receive deliveries. We continue to fully service customers who are able to operate at this time,” said Andrea Coy, CEO of GraceKennedy Foods.
Cari-Med has over 180 staff members consisting mainly of salespersons and merchandisers in the parishes of St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St James and Trelawny which were among the parishes badly damaged by Melissa on October 28, Christian said.
Cari-Med is one of the largest distributors of consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and hospital and medical equipment in Jamaica.
The company’s facilities were spared major damage and it does not have a warehouse in Montego Bay.
“We didn’t suffer any damage in Kingston, thank God, and, with the highways these days, it is easy to distribute throughout the island from our facility in Spanish Town,” Christian said.
The Cari-Med CEO explained that much of the merchandise goods first goes to the large wholesalers who then distribute them to the small shops in the rural areas. He says these smaller shops may have difficulty in obtaining goods because of the damage to the road, electricity and communications networks.
As such, he is calling on the government to engage with large wholesalers to get goods to the deep rural areas.
“These wholesalers with their trucks are the ones that penetrate the hills and valleys and know all the small shops. They carry about 50 items, concentrating on basic foods. They are the best way, I believe, to get food to the people once the roads are clear,” Christian said.
President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce Emile Leiba said members of the organisation were rebuilding the distributive network as best as possible.
“We have met with our members, they have done surveys, and the most common difficulty is the lack of electricity and water in certain areas,” said Leiba.
“There have been various concerns about access to certain areas and community shops which have been destroyed,” he told the Financial Gleaner.
Christian said the large distributors would be well prepared for a crisis such as this, with at least three months of inventory in stock. The Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association previously said, a day after the passage of the Melissa, that some companies had six months of inventory to supply the country post-hurricane.
“The way that the industry works is that everybody makes sure they have a minimum of three months’ inventory here, with another three months on the sea (coming to Jamaica). So, even as goods are going, we also have goods coming in,” Christian said.
But, having goods in stock is one thing; keeping Jamaicans fed in a time of crisis is another, he indicated with concern.
As such, Christian is urging the Jamaican government to provide more information on the system being devised to distribute food and other supplies to the hardest hit areas of the country.
“How are you going to sustain the little man who is laid off by the hotels or whose farm is down, if no money is coming in? How is he going to eat?” Christian asked. “With all of this relief and this money, what is the plan to reach the people and to reach them on time?”