Mixed fortunes for ice-cream company

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a near 50 per cent increase in cold storage business for Barbados’ leading ice-cream company BICO Limited, but at the same time, it has put a dent in the company’s plan to start producing the ice-cream locally again.

And in an effort to help keep the company afloat in the current crisis, senior management of the local company has taken a pay cut.

After more than a decade of sourcing its ice cream from Suriname, BICO had planned to open a $3 million state-of-the-art plant to manufacture the products in Bridgetown starting last February but this was pushed back until May 4.

This has now been further delayed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in a 24-hour curfew and suspension of non-essential services being performed.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY this morning, Executive Director Edwin Thirlwell said the Harbour Road, St Michael manufacturing plant, which is to have an added visitor attraction, was about 90 per cent complete, with only some final touches to be made.

He said he would be writing to Attorney General Dale Marshall seeking permission to carry out the minor work during the curfew period in order to be ready in time for when the pandemic is over, or even before if possible.

This, he said, could provide employment for dozens of Barbadians who are now on the breadline, since people were still buying ice-cream products during the pandemic.

“We were at the point the day before the shutdown where we were about to put the resin floor in the factory . . . that will take two weeks to be done by the local contractor but it will take about three weeks for it to cure before you can put any equipment on it.

“So I am writing a begging letter to the Attorney General now to give consideration to giving essential passes to people to quietly do this inside – the finishing – because it would shortcut when we eventually get the all clear, by five weeks,” explained Thirlwell.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic had not impacted the company’s current shipments, adding that there were adequate products.

However, he said: “What we have to do now is try and gauge for how much longer we have to be bringing in from Suriname before we get the factory up and running, and that is a moving target.

“It all depends on how things unfold and what people agree to and whether they will help or not,” he said.

In relation to the Harbour Cold Store facility, Thirlwell told Barbados TODAY that business has been busy since the first curfew on March 28, with several new clients opting to store their vegetables and meat products there.

“We are continuing to see the food imports coming in . . . We are actually getting 40 ft containers of food,” he said.

“So containers that would be delivered directly are actually being channelled by the Port to BICO and then they get examined by customs in one place, which is what used to happen, then they are releasing them. It is a changing pattern to suit the changing times . . . Year-to date we are up 44 per cent,” he said.

He said in addition to vegetables, the Harbour Cold Store was getting a lot of chicken and other meat from farmers who would usually sell their items to hotels and restaurants, that have now been closed.

He said while there was still space available, first preference would be given to the Barbados Port and regular customers in coming days as the facility continued to see an influx from those who have turned to them in the current crisis.

Describing the current situation as a “balancing act” for the company, Thirlwell said he believed that after the pandemic things would go back to how they were before it started.

He said BICO was now operating with short staff, with some opting to be laid off.

“It is kind of ups and downs and we are just trying to cope with the situation. What we are trying to do in effect is keep the workforce intact and keep everyone employed, partly employed, sharing jobs, working short times. We have gone through the entire workforce and say ‘what would you like to do, yours is a non-essential one’. A lot of the ladies opted to be laid off,” he said.

“A lot of the drivers, rather than see somebody laid off they said ‘I will work three days and he will work three days’. So we have got a whole mix of arrangements. Senior management has taken a cut in salary to reduce the wage bill because that is what we have to do to keep afloat . . . The senior management has taken a ten per cent cut, I have taken a 20 per cent cut. I have to lead from the front, you can’t say one thing and do something else,” he said.

He said some people from the delivery and wholesale side of the business would be rehired with the re-opening of some businesses.

He reported that the mobile fleet has been transformed into a delivery service, and now that supermarkets and gas stations are again allowed to sell daily the wholesale and retail side of the business was almost back up to maximum capacity.

As a result of the closure of almost all hotels, restaurants and food vendors, there has been a dramatic reduction in the biodegradable cutlery and food container Vegware business.

Thirlwell, who is confident of an ease from the pandemic by the end of June, told Barbados TODAY while he did not expect a spectacular year for the company overall, he did not expect a disaster either.

Noting the company was facing a “tight rope situation”, he said he was now keeping a close eye on the gap between revenue, keeping everyone employed and “running out of money”. marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb