Smoker Louisa Malcolm from the March Pen Road area in Spanish Town will soon have to use Trinidadian cigarettes. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
CARRERAS GROUP is to close its cigarette factory at Twickenham Park in St. Catherine by the end of this year.
The company said in a statement yesterday that it made the decision to concentrate on distribution and marketing in Jamaica. This will result in the outsourcing of the manufacturing of its cigarette brands to West Indian Tobacco Company Limited [WITCO] in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
Carreras Group Limited will continue to supply its customers and the company will continue to operate in the island, but will henceforth import its products.
The manufacturing operation has been heavily under-utilised for many years due to the reduction in demand for cigarettes in Jamaica, a source at the company stated.
Carreras Group Ltd became a part of British American Tobacco's Global Supply Chain in 1999 and decided to use its overseas manufacturing assets as a "further investment in Jamaica's cigarette manufacturing plant could not be justified by the historical declining
volumes," the spokesman said.
About 40 members of staff, primarily related to manufacturing, will be affected by the restructuring. Some will go on early retirement and the positions of the others will be made redundant.
Counselling, development and outplacement programmes of support will be implemented to assist with the transition, the spokesman said.
