Entrepreneurship Unit 1

Internal Assessment

JAMAICA PRODUCERS GROUP LIMITED

Group Name:

Student number: 1003521093

Centre number: 100352

Centre name: Annotto Bay High School

Teacher: Miss. Palmer

Territory: Jamaica

Year of Exam: 2021-2022

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 Table of Content

Aim and Objectives

Data Collection

Review of Industry

Presentation of Interview Report

Name and Description of venture

Background of the Entrepreneur Prior to starting the Venture

Characteristics of the Entrepreneur

Origin of the Venture

Industry and Market Description

Key Historical Events in the Starting and Existence of the Venture

Present State of Venture

Major Present and Future Challenges and Emerging Opportunities

Impact of Self

Conclusion

Bibliography

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 Acknowledgment
We would first like to thank god for giving us the knowledge to understand what this

I.A contains. We would also like to thank our teacher for giving us this I.A to

complete and for helping us through it all and sticking by us. Lastly, we would like to

say thank you to all our group members for contributing and helping to complete this

I.A for school. It is a great honor to work with such dedicated and knowledgeable

group members.

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 Aims and Objectives
Aims

 To examine the entrepreneurial mindset, process and innovation and creativity of

an entrepreneurial activity.

Objectives

 To identify the characteristics that an entrepreneur possesses and the challenges

that they faced within the business.

 To analyse and compile the data collected to have a better understanding and gain

knowledge in the efforts of completing this assignment.

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 Data Collection
For this internal assessment, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used for

the data collection throughout this research. Interview and annual reports were among

the instruments used to collect the appropriate and sufficient data for the successful

completion of this research. 

Annual Report 

An annual report is a document that public corporations must provide annually to

shareholders that describes their operations and financial conditions. This form of data

collection contains both quantitative (revenue, expenses, profit margins, taxes, etc.)

and qualitative( Nature of the enterprise, operating environment, etc) data. The

advantage of this type of data collection is that it is a vast storage of information on

the company and this is because of the annual report monitors operations within the

business. This comes with a massive disadvantage also because of the vast amount of

information provided it can sometimes seem difficult to understand. 

Interview

         An interview is a process that takes place between interviewer and interviewee

this is done orally, usually a face-to-face interaction. This is used to go in-depth to

give respondents a chance to answer based on their judgment and opinions. This

qualitative method of investigation is based on non-quantifiable information. It often

entails people’s values, judgment, and opinions. The use of an interview proved to be

inexpensive when compared to other research instruments. The disadvantage of this

instrument is that it can be biased and time-consuming as the interviewee may be

caught up in the interviewee’s words. The process of the interview was carried out on

February 10, 2022. The interviewer gathered accurate means of information from the

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workers and entrepreneurs of the business that was chosen by the researcher to carry

out the research.

Review of Industry

The industry being studied is the Agriculture industry. According to the website

Global Edge, the agriculture industry is made up of companies and corporations that

are involved in the production of food and crops for consumption purposes. This

includes both firms that specialize in raising animals and enterprises in growing crops.

This industry consists of five sectors of agriculture; these sectors are growing crops,

raising animals, harvesting timber, and harvesting fish and other animals from a farm

ranch, or their natural habitats.

The industry began in the Fertile Crescent an area found in Western Asia in

the early 1900s, the university of Chicago by archeologist James Henry Breasted as he

coined the term “Fertility Crescent” to describe this location’s role as the birthplace of

agriculture. It has often been called the “Cradle of Civilization” as well since both the

wheel and writing first appeared there.

According to Wikipedia agriculture is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock.

Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization.

Whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enable people to

live in cities and began thousands of years ago.

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PRESENTATION OF INTERVIEW

REPORT
Trading was one thing but maintaining it to our advantage was a different

thing altogether. Throughout the history of trade, Jamaica was in a struggle- to secure

remunerative prices as monopolistic foreign buyers flood the market and secured their

stronghold in trade. The first decade of the 20th century saw the uprising of the

United Fruit Company a multi-national corporation whose main objective was the

shipping and marketing of bananas on an international scale. By 1912, United Fruit

Company owned about 860,000 acres of lands throughout the Caribbean in countries

such as Costa Rica, Honduras, Dominica Republic, and our very own Jamaica, etc.

United Fruit Company had almost a monopoly position in Jamaica knocking

out all the older Jamaica trading companies and dominating the market. This caused

small farmers in the country to struggle because United Fruit Company had assumed

wide international, geographical, financial, and political recognition which made the

resources that local enterprises and small farmers provided in the trading industry

ineffectual. After all, they couldn’t keep up in this rapidly growing market. The

struggle of these small farmers and local businesses during the first three decades of

the twentieth century culminated in the launching of the Jamaica Banana Producers

Association on April 1st, 1929 whose main aim was to purchase, ship, and market the

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banana produces of Jamaica farmers and local enterprise abroad, in competition with

the foreign company United Fruit Company.

The story of the struggles of these small farmers was documented in an article

titled “ The Story of a Great Jamaican Enterprise” which was published by the

Jamaica Banana Producers Association, in this, they state: “The banana industry, like

nearly everything else in Jamaica, was dominated from abroad. Foreign interests

owned and cultivated acreages of the best banana land. A comparatively few large

Jamaican landowners were also encouraged to grow bananas for the booming export

trade, and they were given contracts. But these contracts were never available to small

farmers, who had to sell in the open market. This meant that nobody was under any

obligation to take the fruit they offered. They were used when the demand for bananas

was great and rejected when the market contracted. They were used as a convenience.

This led to Rev. A. A Barclay of Lucky Hill in St. Mary in 1924, to attempted

in altering the current trading situation. He espoused ideas which then lead to the

creation of the Jamaica Producers Association. Rev. A. A Barclay got together a few

dozen small banana growers whose bananas he sold to an exporting company under a

single contract. The Rev Barclay wanted to carry his infant co-operative further and

apply it to other products. With the aid of F. H. Robertson, several Elected Members

of the tile Legislature and several Custodies. A meeting of farmers was held in June

1925 to fan an island-wide Parent Body under which separate co-operatives, for the

marketing of each product would be set up. The Jamaica Producers Association was

formed in the year 1925 with F.H. Robertson as General Manager. District

Association was set- up in every parish in Jamaica and these serve as enrollment

centers in which over 20,000 people went to market their products through the

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commodity the Association had formed. A few amounts of people thought Jamaica

could solve its trade problem, but it was enough to make the dream a reality. For, after

the formation of the parent body in 1925, several banana growers organized meetings

all over the island.

On April 1st, 1929, The Jamaica Banana Producers Association was born with

6,145 active members and with a capital of £173.60 with its key leaders Sir Arthur

Farquharson, Charles E. Johnson, and Cpt S. D. With just small capital and great

optimism this newly formed cooperation set out to compete against one of the largest

fruit company in the world.

In 1931 Jamaica Banana Producers Steamship Company which was owned by

The Jamaica Producers Association was incorporated in JBPA. The steamship line

consisted of four (4) refrigerated ships namely: Jamaica Merchant, Jamaica Settler,

Jamaica Producer, and Jamaica Planter. This was the first established shipping line

that was 100% owned by Jamaica. In 1944 an unnamed hurricane shook the company

because many farmers' farms were decimated. This caused the company to face a

massive decline but they still see the farmers as of paramount importance. A dividend

of 2 ¼ d. per share was paid to farmers to help in the recovery process. In 1959 The

Jamaica Planter III was commissioned into action to rebuild the fleet which has

consisted of charters since World War 2. This was essential at the time because the

industry was rising back up. In 1962 Jamaica celebrates its independence from the

British clutches Jamaica Producer II was replaced with the Jamaica Producer III

which serviced the company for about 18 years before being sold. In 1979 when

another decade has come to a close, when the Banana Industry has shown signs of

decline, from exporting 149 thousand metric tons in 1969 to a decrease to 68 thousand

metric tons in 1979. The hierarchy structure was also shifted for the JBPA as George

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Downer, an accountant was appointed Charmin. 1987 the company started expanding

and finding other innovative ways in which to grow the business venture, here they

established a fresh factory in Wales. SUN JUICE with its quality range of fresh juices

and smoothies becomes of the company’s core business units. 1995 the company

enters the Jamaican snack market with its brand of chips Jamaica Best. It also changes

its name to Jamaica Producers Foods which produces and market Jamaica food items

in 1992. 2021-2022 as the company continues to strengthen and expand its Caribbean

Logistics and Infrastructure portfolio. JP acquires 50% of shareholding interest in

Geest Line Limited one of the leading shipping lines connecting Europe and the

Caribbean.

Jamaica Producers has become a company that encourages teamwork with

their customers, suppliers, and partners to create value for all their stakeholders as the

business vision states “We produce and we deliver for the world”, they believe in

selecting, acquiring, and developing a unique portfolio of exceptional Food & Drink

and Logistics & Infrastructure global assets for which their team can deploy their

special entrepreneurial talents to produce great value – always at world standards –

and deliver world-class returns for our shareholders. Their mission is to differentiate

themselves — to make ourselves special. They know for sure that they can create

extraordinary value for our stakeholders when they deliver extraordinary products and

services. The current Board of Directors consists of Charles Johnson (Chairman),

Jeffrey Hall (Managing Director), Alan Buckland (Finance Director), Aubrey Ffrench,

Alvin Wint, Grantley Stephenson, Patricia Francis, Sanya Goffe, Marshall Hall,

Donovan Perkins, Kathleen Moss, and Dahlia Kelly. For this report, our focus will be

on the chairman. Charles Johnson is the Executive Chairman of The Jamaica Fruit and

Shipping Company Ltd. He is also the Chairman of Jamaica Producers which he

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joined in 1975 and climb to ranks in 1986. He presides over the Executive and

Compensation Committees and serves under the Audit Committee. Charles Johnston

also serves on other committees such as Kingston Logistics Centre, B & D Trawling

Ltd., Jamaica Public Service Company Limited, and Shipping Association of Jamaica,

etc… In 2006 he was conferred with the National Award of Order of Distinction

Commander Class. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in Economics at the University

of Pennsylvania in which he majored in International Trade and Finance.

The forefather of this Business exhibits various good characteristics of an

entrepreneur which is what shaped the future leaders of the business this person was

Rev. A.A. Barclay. In a time when things were harsh on small farmers and they were

being treated unfairly, he thinks outside the box and came up with the brilliant idea

why not form cooperation of banana growers to combat these harsh times farmers

faced and give small farmers a competitive way to export although the foreign

company was dominating the market, here he exhibited creativity he gave birth to

something by coming up with a solution with a problem he faced and say in his

environment. This creativity was continued to build upon because now the company’s

main product is not only banana anymore it had expanded to snacks, beverages even

construction and coffee, etc. under the leadership of Charles Johnson in which he

build on his ancestor's creativity and expanded the business. Determination was

another characteristic that was showcased in the creation of this business venture Mr.

Barclay was up against monopoly (United Fruit Company) in the agriculture industry.

I am sure he faced a lot of trial and error and failures trying to compete with an

international well-known organization with just a small association with just a little

founding but he faced it with a positive attitude and did not frown at the defeat he just

keep on trying till his business took off. Open-Mindedness was also shown because he

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saw the true realization of what they were facing and an opportunity to establish a

business just at the appropriate time. Conducting this research has taught us an

important lesson that Jamaica is not lacking talent, courage, vision, and creativity and

by integrating our resources and talents, through hard work and dedication the

impossible can be possible and also that success first starts from the mindset to be

successful.

Presentation of Data

Total Assets

$41,000,000.00
$40,000,000.00
$39,000,000.00
$38,000,000.00
Total Assets
$37,000,000.00
$36,000,000.00
$35,000,000.00
$34,000,000.00
$33,000,000.00
$32,000,000.00
2020 2019 2018

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 CONCLUSION

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 BIBILOGRAPHY

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 APPENDICES

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