Can shortage stalls millions of ackee processing; more than 100 workers sent home

An industry-wide shortage of can lids has disrupted Jamaica’s ackee-processing sector during the peak harvest season, forcing lay-offs, slowing factory operations, and leaving millions of ackees awaiting processing.

More than 100 workers have been sent home from Stanmark Processors Ltd as a shortage of A-2 cans – the standard 19-ounce container used to package ackee – constrains operations at the company’s three processing facilities.

“We currently have about 20 million ackees on hand. The fruit is ripening and just falling off the trees,” said Chairman and proprietor Canute Sadler, who operates one of the largest ackee export operations.

The shortage has surfaced during the June-to-October ackee season and comes as processors report one of the strongest crops in recent years. Stanmark has scaled back transportation activity, with only one of its three drivers still working, while maintaining a small administrative complement.

The processor is attempting to sell frozen ackee to hotels while exploring the possibility of shifting some production to 10-ounce cans, if buyers can be secured for the smaller package size.

Sadler warned that reduced processing capacity could leave farmers facing reduced earnings.

“Ackee prices are going to drop because the market is going to be flooded with ackees,” he said.

Interviews with processors, their industry association and the packaging supplier suggest that the shortage may have stemmed less from an absence of manufacturing capacity than from a breakdown in communication and forecasting ahead of the harvest. Sadler said discussions on can requirements that took place in previous years did not occur this season, while Jamaica Agro-Processors Association interim President Dr Colin Jackson attributed the problem to “ineffective communication”. Major tin supplier to the trade, Crown Packaging Manager David Camacho, meanwhile, said demand exceeded expectations and called for more frequent feedback from customers on projected requirements.

COMMUNICATION FAILURE

Jackson told the Financial Gleaner that about a dozen ackee processors, large and small, met with Crown Packaging on July 22 to examine the causes of the shortage and identify possible solutions.

He said the industry had experienced can shortages before, but never with so little warning.

“It isn’t the first time that the cans have been short, but it is the first time that we were caught flat-footed.”

According to Jackson, processors learnt during the meeting that “no cans were available”.

The A-2 can, the industry standard for ackee, holds approximately 540 grammes, or 19 ounces, of product.

Jackson said processors were informed that agro-processors consumed a higher-than-expected volume of cans in the first half of the year.

“We were told that there was a 30 per cent increase in usage of the cans by agro-producers from January to June,” he said.

He said he did not believe that level of growth alone should have exhausted inventories going into the industry’s busiest processing period.

Asked what he believed was at the root of the disruption, Jackson was succinct:

“Ineffective communication.”

The fallout is already evident across the sector, he added.

“Right now there is no production. A lot of factories are not producing, and ackee is the cash cow.”

CROWN SAYS DEMAND EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS

Crown Packaging argues that the shortage emerged as demand surged beyond company projections.

“This year’s crop has been particularly voluminous, and although we thought we had adequate coverage, demand exceeded our expectations,” Camacho said.

Crown Packaging, one of Jamaica’s oldest manufacturing companies, has been producing metal packaging since 1950 and operates as part of a regional manufacturing network linking Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad.

Camacho said one of the lessons from the episode was the need for more timely demand forecasts from customers.

“Several important issues were raised, one of which includes getting frequent feedback on their projected demand for cans going forward, so that we may have adequate stocks available for sale.”

The company noted that lead times for obtaining raw materials range from four to five months.

Camacho said Crown currently has material equivalent to 3.4 million can ends, or lids, awaiting clearance and conversion in Barbados. A further shipment of steel coils capable of producing another three million ends was due to arrive in Trinidad on August 1.

Because two ends are required for each can, the material currently moving through the system would yield approximately 3.2 million cans.

Camacho said regional logistics have compounded the challenge.

“Unfortunately, however, shipping connectivity within the region remains a challenge in terms of frequency, consistency, and costs.”

PROCESSORS SOUGHT EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Sadler and Jackson said representatives of Stanmark, Spur Tree Spices, GraceKennedy and other processors attended the July 22 meeting and proposed an emergency measure to keep factories operating throughout the harvest.

Both said processors offered to pay the cost of air-freighting lids into Jamaica to alleviate the shortage and ease the bottleneck facing the factories.

Jackson said he was unsure of the status of the proposal because phone messages left for Crown Packaging had not been returned.

The implications extend well beyond processing plants, Sadler argued.

“This has political, social and economic implications.”

He pointed to the impact on farmers, factory workers, transport operators, exporters, shipping interests and overseas distributors tied to the ackee trade.

Stanmark exports about 200,000 cases of canned ackee annually, he said.

“Ackee is not a small business any more.”

SPUR TREE CONFIRMS SHORTAGE

Spur Tree Spices CEO Albert Bailey confirmed that he attended the July 22 meeting amid the industry’s concerns.

“We acknowledge the situation of the shortage of cans, and we are having dialogue with our supplier partner to see how best the situation can be resolved,” Bailey said. “Also, once that is resolved, we will have discussions on how to avoid a repeat in the future.”

Ackee remains one of Spur Tree’s most important products and contributes significantly to the group’s revenue and profitability, particularly in export markets, according to the company’s latest annual report. The report identifies subsidiaries Exotic Products Limited and Canco Limited as key participants in the group’s canned-food operations, including ackee processing and distribution.

OPTIMISM COLLIDES WITH BOTTLENECK

The shortage comes just weeks after Agriculture Minister Floyd Green urged Jamaicans to expand ackee cultivation.

“Demand for ackee continues to increase, while supply remains insufficient to meet market needs,” Green said.

Jamaica earned some US$18.1 million from ackee exports in 2024, down from US$26.1 million in 2023 following hurricane-related disruptions. Industry executives have continued to report strong demand in export markets.

carolyn.guniss@rjrgleaner.com