Honey Bun (1982) Limited

What it is

Honey Bun is a Jamaica-based wholesale bakery that specialises in individually packaged pastries and baked snacks, manufacturing and distributing to both the local and export markets. Its four brands — Honey Bun, Buccaneer, Shorty, and Pickney Crackaz — cover everything from cinnamon rolls and spicy buns to loaf bread, hot-dog rolls, and rum cake.

The company first entered the export market in 1996, and today ships to the Caribbean, the United States, Canada, and England. It describes itself as the fastest-growing wholesale bakery in Jamaica.

Who owns it

The company is collectively controlled by CEO Michelle Chong, Executive Chairman Herbert Chong, and their vehicle Next Incorporated — a Belize holding company — to the tune of 75.59% of the shares. That leaves a free float of roughly 24%, thin enough that even small trades move the price.

A notable recent addition to the register is WISYNCO Group (Caribbean) Limited, parent of Jamaican consumer-goods giant Wisynco, which bought eight million shares to become the fifth-largest shareholder. The transaction, completed in June 2024, was at JMD 8.90 per share, for a total of JMD 71.2 million (USD 0.45 million).

Who runs it

Herbert Chong is Executive Chairman and co-founder, having built the company together with his wife Michelle. Michelle Chong has served as CEO since the company’s founding in 1982 — a tenure of more than four decades — and also holds the role of Executive Director.

Daniel Chong has been appointed CEO effective 1 October 2025, succeeding Michelle Chong, who will step back from day-to-day executive duties; Daniel currently serves as Deputy CEO and is leading the company’s largest capital project to date. CFO: not disclosed in available sources.

The money, in plain words

In the financial year ended September 2024, Honey Bun grew revenue by 13% to JMD 3.84 billion (USD 24.5 million), but profit held flat at JMD 230 million (USD 1.47 million). It keeps about 6 cents of profit from every Jamaican dollar of sales — a net profit margin of 6.0% (our calculation), modest but reasonable for a food manufacturer absorbing sharp input-cost inflation.

For every dollar of owners’ equity in the business, it earns back roughly 15 cents a year — a return on equity of ~15.4% (our calculation), solid for a small-cap consumer-goods company in an emerging market. The flat earnings were driven by higher input costs and development spending on the new Angels plant; exports nonetheless grew 12%, helped by Honey Bun’s expanding footprint in Canada and the hiring of a dedicated export manager.

What it is doing now

The defining move is a new 60,000-square-foot production facility at Angels, St Catherine, projected to give the company 150% of its current capacity and equipped with the latest baking technology. The factory began operations in September 2024, though additional capital spending is still needed to reach full output.

Exports surged roughly 200% in the first quarter of FY2025, driven by new distributors in Toronto, Florida, and New York, as Honey Bun begins ramping up the Angels plant to relieve the capacity constraints that had long limited overseas growth. At the same time, the company is building out the Swirls retail pastry brand — acquired in June 2024 — adding a second location at New Kingston Shopping Centre in August 2025.

What to watch

• Angels ramp-up. CEO Daniel Chong estimates roughly USD 2 million in additional equipment is still needed to bring the plant to full capacity — execution risk is real for a company of this size.
• Margin squeeze. For the six months ended March 2025, administrative expenses rose 21% and net profit fell 28% year-on-year to JMD 121 million — the expansion is visibly compressing near-term earnings.
• Succession. Michelle Chong’s departure from the executive chair after more than 40 years ends an era; she remains on the board and leads the Honey Bun Foundation. How Daniel Chong handles the transition will set the tone for the next chapter.
• Export scaling. Honey Bun is aiming for a larger share of what it calls a USD 700-billion global snacks and baked goods market — ambition is clear, but converting that into sustained revenue from a small Kingston base is the hard part.

This is news, not investment advice.