Sweet River tackles fall in pork sales
Slaughterhouse Sweet River Abattoir has called for more transparency in the pork industry, following what it touted as a “challenging” couple of months for the company.
Sweet River’s Managing Director Valdence Gifford, in an adjoining statement to the company’s three months financial statements ended December 17, argued that the need for the industry to be more organised and strategic is evident as the present situation is not sustainable.
“There is consensus among pig farmers islandwide that they experienced great difficulty in selling pigs in 2016 and 2017. They also complained of low prices coming against the background of record arrivals in the tourism sector — from which a lot of our demand of our product is derived — reflecting the need for more transparency in the market,” he said.
Sweet River partly blamed its net losses of $4.5 million for the period October to December 2017, on uncompetitive prices in the marketplace.
Net profit for the company was 52.6 per cent or $4.7 million lower than the $880,000 Sweet River posted in December 2016. Sales revenue also declined some six per cent to $73.9 million.
The company said it hopes to improve on its losses going forward now that it has shifted focus towards the hotel industry.
Amidst the challenges, Sweet River was happy to report that it has implemented new sales strategies which will help the company better match demand for its products and the supply of its inputs.
“To this effect we have secured new markets with contracts running up to three years. These new arrangements have brought renewed confidence to our farmers, supplies and other stakeholders,” Gifford said.
“These new strategies being employed, as well as further diversification in our product offerings are expected to result in improved performances going forward,” he continued.