INSIDE:SPARKLING CRAN WATA ‘WOWS’ THE TASTE BUDS! 2019 ANNUAL REPORT FEATURE GROWING TEAM IN A GROWING ECONOMY The Power of Potential SALES-CON: FEATURE ‘Exceeding the Vision – 6 Fearless Females Securing the Future’ tell their tales! Wisynco Group Limited - 2019 Annual Report 1 At Wisynco we see potential in everything and everyone. We believe that there are NO LIMITS with the right support, guidance and investment in our products and our people. We believe that there are NO LIMITS to Jamaica’s potential for growth and NO LIMITS for our people. MISSION To improve the lives of our people. 2 Wisynco Group Limited - 2019 Annual Report 4 About Us 7 Chairman & CEO’s message 9 Notice of Annual MEET SIX General Meeting FEARLESS 10 FEMALES! The Board of Directors Page18 14 Executive Team 16 Corporate Data 17 Top 10 Shareholders and Directors’ Interest 27 Corporate Governance 32 Management Discussion & Analysis 50 Auditor’s Report 32 Five-Year Financial 55 Analysis Audited Financial ON THE COVER: Statements Khadijah Shaw, Senior 41 Corporate Social Reggae Girlz. Image courtesy Form of Proxy of The Gleaner Company Ltd. Responsibility CLICK IT + WATCH IT: Throughout this year’s annual, this icon indicates an embedded video. It can be viewed by clicking on the picture in the electronic version of the annual report, on your CD or online at www.wisynco.com Wisynco Group Limited - 2019 Annual Report 3 ABOUT THE Wisynco Group Limited is a proud and established prices. The Company’s goal is to remain the premier Jamaican manufacturer and distributor. The Com- distributor and manufacturer of food and beverages COMPANY pany was established in 1965 and began manu- in Jamaica. This is achieved by constant innovation facturing Ironman Waterboots. Every decade of in existing and potential product categories. The va- Wisynco’s existence has seen innovation and growth, riety of brands and packaged offerings the Company be it through new industries, new partnerships or has in its portfolio provide the flexibility to reach all export ventures. At Wisynco, innovation is viewed Jamaican consumers. Wisynco maintains interna- as the most effective driver of long-term sustainable tional standards and is certified with the following: shareholder value. By understanding the needs of • ISO 9001:2015 [Quality Management Systems the Jamaican consumer, the Company has been Certification] able to conceptualize several local beverage brands which have resonated with the Jamaican palate • FSSC 22000 v 4.1 [Food Safety Management and lifestyle and which dominate in their respective Systems Certification] categories. • ISO 14001:2015 [Environmental Management The Company currently produces its own brands Systems Certification] of high-quality beverage products including BIGGA soft drinks, WATA, CranWATA, Sparkling CranWata, • OHSAS 18001:2007 [Occupational Health and Ironade and BOOM Energy Drink, as well as Sweet Safety Management Systems Certification] Synthetic Packaging Products. In addition to their owned brands, Wisynco is the exclusive bottler and Wisynco currently distributes 147 brands and has distributor for the popular brand portfolios Coca-Cola a direct customer base of over 12,000 customers. and Squeezz beverages. The Company boasts an This is made up primarily of supermarkets, retail enviable portfolio of food and beverage brands that wholesale channels, schools and food service outlets. include imported brands such as Kelloggs, Häagen It offers its products through distributors in Jamaica, Dazs, Yoplait and M&Ms, as well as locally manufac- Antigua, Bahamas, Trinidad, Grenada, Dominica, St. tured products from Tradewinds, Worthy Park Estate Lucia, Canada, Barbados, St. Vincent, Guyana, Belize, and JP Snacks. Curaçao, Grand Cayman, the United Kingdom, the The Wisynco Family has expanded over the United States, Aruba, Panama, St. Kitts and Suriname. years and has faced many triumphs and challeng- Wisynco prides itself on creating a differentiated cus- es together, making the team more resilient and tomer experience, as such the focus is on providing committed. Through the years the Company and its innovative product offerings and superior customer growing employee base have been guided by the care resulting in a high degree of customer loyalty. principles of their founding fathers, who insisted With one of the largest sales forces in Jamaica, that their priorities in life should be God first, Family comprising of more than 800 sales-related em- second, Country and then Company. The Compa- ployees, Wisynco boasts a sales and distribution ny Mission Statement; To improve the lives of our infrastructure that has a significant presence in the people, extends to all stakeholders, shareholders, marketplace, ensuring that all Wisynco represent- team members, customers, partners and fellow ed products are well positioned and accessible to Jamaicans alike. Jamaican consumers at all times. The Wisynco Team conceptualized the acronym The Company operates from a modern cen- C.H.I.R.P. which speaks to the values of Compassion, tralized 360,000 square foot warehouse space and Humility, Integrity, Respect, and Passion. These commands a fleet of over 65 owned and over 400 values define the ‘Wisynco Way’ by which all Wisynco contracted trucks that deliver product directly to our employees strive to live. vast customer base. Its in-trade assets include over Wisynco takes great pride in offering quality 8,600 coolers and 2,400 freezers which help to en- products to the Jamaican market at competitive sure the ready-to-serve availability of their products. C.H.I.R.P. – Compassion, Humility, Integrity, Respect, and Passion. 4 Wisynco Group Limited - 2019 Annual Report The average Jamaican consumes a Wisynco product at least once every day. Wisynco Group Limited - 2019 Annual Report 5 William Mahfood, Chairman Andrew Mahfood, CEO 6 Wisynco Group Limited - 2019 Annual Report Chairman & CEO’s Report a growing team A Growing Company in a Growing Nation We have closed another good year for Wisynco Trending Upwards having achieved a 15% increase in revenue and ended the financial year with a robust 28% increase We all want a robust and ‘Bigga’ Jamaican in net profit after tax. We attribute our growth and economy, with more than the reported 1.0% annual results to our dedicated team and our focus on not growth. Thankfully, our economy continues to just building a company, but on the development of improve with low levels of inflation, interest rates, people, culture and the role we play in the develop- and unemployment. The exchange rate is operating ment of Jamaica. with growing predictability and the trade balance is On January 29th, 2019, we welcomed our newest forecasted to remain largely stable according to the Independent Board member, Mrs. Odetta Rock- Bank of Jamaica. This provides an opportunity for head-Kerr, who brings over 20 years of experience an economic tipping point that should continue to in customer service, Business Process Outsourcing facilitate growth for both our company and country. (BPO), technology and transformation space. We For the review period ending June 2019, the have already benefitted significantly from Odetta’s economy recorded annual inflation of 4.2% and the contributions and look forward to her continued in- Bank of Jamaica’s policy rate closed at 0.75% in June put and support. She is also a member of our Audit 2019 from 2.0% a year earlier. and Risk and Corporate Governance and Compensa- tion committees. Strategic Partnerships During the year, we made an investment in JP Snacks Caribbean Limited of $586.2 million in return We are proud for a 30% stake in the company. We are proud to em- to embrace brace JP Snacks and their range of St. Mary’s tropical snacks, as an associated company of the Group as of JP Snacks and April 2019. their range Earlier in the financial year, Wisynco entered into a strategic distribution arrangement with Worthy of St Mary’s Park Estate Limited. Under this partnership, we have tropical become the distributors of Worthy Park Estate’s sugar and spirits products for Jamaica. This is expected to snacks, as an favourably impact our revenue for both portfolios associated (sugar and spirits) at approximately $2.1 billion per annum and we believe there are some potential company of future innovations from this alliance. the Group. These deals have added significant value to Wisynco while maintaining our debt profile. Our debt to equity ratio actually reduced from 29% in 2018 to 24% in 2019 while group equity increased to $11 billion from $8.7 billion at the end of 2018. Wisynco Group Limited - 2019 Annual Report 7 Our return Additionally, the unemployment rate hit an in- The new points of distribution will allow us to credible low of 7.8% in April 2019, the lowest rate in achieve organic growth of our existing brands and on average the past decade.This indicates tremendous potential increase access to our newly acquired JP Snacks and for increasing consumer spending power which will Worthy Park Estate, as well as all our other portfolios. equity foster a growing business reinforced environment We innovated and launched a series of low continues and the growth of Jamaica’s manufacturing industry and zero sugar added products aimed at offering consumers further beverage choices as well as to trend Moving Forward complying with the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ new Interim guidelines regarding changes in the northwards Going forward we intend to increase our points sugar content of beverages sold in schools. For our of sale in a series of initiatives from our sales and of 26% per consumers from basic to secondary level institutions, commercial department. We have implemented a cus- we offer products less than six grams of sugar per annum. tomer relationship management (CRM) tool and other 100 milliliter and 100% juices which meets the new technology solutions to support these initiatives.