Jamaica Broilers Group has invested US$3 million (J$204 million) to expand its Best Dressed Chicken Processing Plant at Spring Village, St. Catherine, in a move to reduce its storage costs.

The company projects savings of about $12 million per year from the increased capacity.

The expansion, which was completed this month, has increased the size of the company's cold room which stores frozen finished products such as chicken, fish and beef from about 700,000 kilogrammes to up to 1.4 million kilogrammes.

"This means that we will no longer have to rent additional storage space to store our excess products," said manager of the Best Dressed Chicken Processing Plant Steve Palmer.

"We would have had to cut our production when inventory rises."

Christopher Levy, a senior vice-president, said the company's monthly storage cost of $1 million per month will be reduced by 70 per cent as a result of the expansion.

Two new 450 horse power compressors and condensers were installed under the expansion programme.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com

Taken from the Financial Gleaner, Friday January 19, 2007.