Caribbean investors optimistic about future of citrus
Throughout what has become a long and bitter period of turmoil in the citrus industry, growers have debated the pros and cons of a twenty-five million dollar investment in the grower-owned processing company. But while the controversy has raged, the new shareholders, who control forty-six point five percent of the company, have simply been seen as a group of Eastern Caribbean businessmen. Today News Five’s Janelle Chanona travelled to Pomona for a chat with our new partners.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
It was business as usual today as prime examples of southern pride made their way from delivery trucks through the processing line of Citrus Products of Belize Limited. This year, citrus growers could have their best payday in more than a decade.
But just when the industry is looking up, controversy over the sale of just under half of the company has pitted grower against grower and today, the management committee of the Citrus Growers Association is preparing to face a vote of no-confidence in a special general meeting, tentatively called for February third.
Henry Canton, Chief Operating Officer, C.P.B.L.
“There was no hidden agenda. If we drop dropped the ball somewhere, it was not intentional.”
Watching this internal battle from the sidelines has been Bob Ramchand, Chief Executive Officer of Blue Waters Limited and Richard Cozier, C.E.O. and Managing Director of Banks Holdings. Both investors arrived in Belize this week to sign the supplementary agreement to their investment contract.
Bob Ramchand, C.E.O., Blue Waters Limited
“We have just kind of let it take its course, understanding the nature of the industry of the emotions that could run in the industry. How we feel now is we feel that now that the deal is done—basically how I feel, I look forward to the partnership between ourselves and the growers and the rest of the industry and really looking forwarding to showing, not only the people in Belize, but the people in the Caribbean, what a truly united Caribbean company could do. And that’s how I see ourselves moving forward.”
Richard Cozier, C.E.O./Managing Dir., Banks Holdings
“It was important for the issues that came up to come up at the beginning rather than halfway through our first year or at the end of the first year. So hopefully what we have done in the past, what we are doing now and so on will help to allay any residual fears out there and we can get along collectively with growing the business.”
But that growing business has been a point of contention as this afternoon C.P.B.L.’s C.E.O., Henry Canton, admitted that the solid prospectus for the value added dimension of the deal is still months away. With that in mind, the Eastern Caribbean investors described their vision for the future.
Bob Ramchand
“It must be a fair partnership. There must be a lot of dialogue. One cannot be stronger than the other, otherwise what you’re gonna get is you’re gonna get a marriage that has a dominant partner and I don’t know if you’re married, but that is not the best thing. And the only way forward in a situation like that is dialogue.”
“It can’t happen overnight, it happens over time and hopefully this is I think, this is the start of something that is gonna continue for a long time. I really think that over time it is gonna work and everyone at some point in time and I hope I am around when that happens, everyone will say, “Boy this was a great deal for everybody.”
Richard Cozier
“We have distribution in Barbados, we have distribution in Trinidad, we have distribution in Guyana, we have distribution in the Bahamas. We are working on distribution throughout the other Eastern Caribbean and when those are in place, when the rest are in place the entire Caribbean is available for the production out of Belize in there as a finished product, not a commodity.”
Henry Canton
“My job, my mandate as C.E.O. of C.P.B.L. is to get the best possible price for my product and therefore translate it through the price formula for the best possible price to the growers. I am a grower too, substantive grower and I want money for fruit.”
But was management its own worse enemy when it failed to convince growers of that vision?
Henry Canton
“You know, I tried. To be honest with you and this is sometimes where it becomes difficult, because we tried, especially in this second go, we tried as best as possible to do whatever it takes. The recommendations—the fundamental recommendations of the committee of five—these guys agreed to; it was done. The ones that were not met when you read the report are probably some that could not be met at this point in time because they are time barred, there are certain things that have to happen before you could deal with another issue. Employee contracts, you need a board before you could—I don’t know if you understand what I mean, there are certain things that have to go in sequence. Then we strap ourselves with a resolution that says all when you know you can’t do all, because some of them are extraneous, some of them are…”
Janelle Chanona
“So why did you agree to it at the meeting then?”
Henry Canton
“Because I never thought that we would end up in a situation where all is spelt A-L-L and not—we’re getting down into the nitty-gritty … Richard has to now sit down with his lawyers to see if his arrangement is correct because there’s this mistrust and that is what is happening. At the Saturday meeting—“
Janelle Chanona
“But who do you blame for that?”
Henry Canton
“I blame the mood of the environment and I guess we get caught in it. I think right now everybody just wants to have a piece of somebody else.”
In an act of transparency, this afternoon the company officials shared that they have established a new company, Beverages Caribbean Limited, owned by partners Banks Barbados, Banks Guyana, Blue Waters, and C.P.B.L.
Bob Ramchand
“The idea was to take what was produced here, stabilise that market, take advantage of the products that we could produce within the Caribbean, stopping the multinationals from coming in, like say the Coca-Colas, stopping the multinationals from taking up at all in the Caribbean by blocking them, by controlling from the raw material to the finished product supply and that is what we saw. In that way, the growers would also be protected because as I said, what’s the sense C.P.B.L. being strong and the growers being weak? At the end of the day we’d we shooting ourselves in the foot.”
Henry Canton
“for me Janelle, I just want growers to understand, yes, it has gotten out of whack a little, but what Bob said is totally true, we were not looking at low price-high price, we were looking at setting up a business that would make it sustainable over time and for us to be able to have a marketplace. My next move now, which I hope will not be controversial, is going into Central America because that is where the true market place is.”
“That business will cost us about seven to eight million U.S. dollars to actually put the equipment in to do what we want to do. We want to see if we could get some equity investments from the Central American group and then we want to offer a portion of that to growers or if growers don’t take it, to any Belizean at large.”
According to Canton, all four partners would receive a fair share of profits derived from B.C.L. investments. But while Canton et al are looking ahead, other growers say the conflicts of the past must be settled so that a unified industry can plan the future.
Anthony Chanona, Citrus Grower
“The controversy I believe has hit a quagmire. For it to get out of where it is, I believe all parties should agree that what is required is a fresh mandate.”
Anthony Chanona served as secretary of the Committee of Five appointed to review and recommend changes to the investment agreement. Bolstered by his inside perspective and knowledge of the citrus politics at work, Chanona is calling for an entirely new slate of management.
Anthony Chanona
“That trust has been breached in all that has happened and I personally would suggest that the parties come together, the C.G.A. and the petitioners of the special meeting, call fresh elections; the entire management committee should resign, seek fresh elections, the I.C.L. board should resign and seek fresh appointments. Perhaps then in that environment, a less hostile environment, the industry will be able to move forward on that mandate.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona
According to C.G.A.’s Bridget Cullerton, the announcement of whether another special A.G.M. called for February third will be held or not will be made tomorrow morning.
Meanwhile as citrus growers continue to squabble, world prices for orange juice products figure to go nowhere but up–at least in the short term. The latest boost comes from a devastating freeze in California that destroyed much of this year’s naval orange crop. And while that variety of citrus is primarily sold as fresh fruit, the scarcity is still expected to put upward pressure on the juice market, sourced largely from Valencia oranges. The vast majority of Belize’s juicing oranges are Valencias.
