Salada Foods Jamaica Limited

What it is

Salada Foods has been part of Jamaica’s coffee industry since 1958 and is the largest of four processing plants in the country — and the only soluble coffee processor in the English-speaking Caribbean.

The company makes and sells instant coffee, roasted and ground coffee beans, and other consumer products, offering coffee under the Mountain Bliss 876 and Jamaica Mountain Peak brands, tea under the Jamaica Mountain Peak name, and juices under the Roberts brand.

Formed in 1958, Salada has been trading publicly since Jamaica’s stock market opened in 1969.

Who owns it

Control sits firmly with a single company. As of September 30, 2024, Resource in Motion Limited held 602,367,000 shares — a 57.98% stake — making it the dominant owner by a wide margin.

The next two largest holders were AIC (Jamaica) Limited at 8.65% and Donwis Limited at 7.22%, with the top ten shareholders together controlling 89.16% of the company, leaving a free float of just 10.84%. That thin public float means the shares trade in a relatively small market.

Salada describes itself as a wholly Jamaican-owned manufacturing company.

Who runs it

Patrick Williams has been Chairman of Salada since March 2015, having first joined the board in February 2012. He is a senior executive of ICWI Group Limited, a leading general insurer in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Tamii Brown serves as General Manager — the company’s top executive — and is the public face of its export and innovation strategy. Williams and Brown together represented the company at its 61st annual general meeting in March 2026.

The money, in plain words

For the financial year ended September 30, 2025, Salada recorded higher revenues despite increased selling and promotional expenses, with gross revenues rising nearly 8% to JMD 1.60 billion (USD 10.24M) from JMD 1.48 billion (US$9 mn) a year earlier.

Net profit fell 9.7% to JMD 171.5 million (USD 1.10M) from JMD 189.9 million (US$1 mn), giving a net margin of 10.7% — meaning the company keeps about 11 cents of profit from every dollar of sales (our calculation).

Gross profit rose 6.8% to JMD 487.9 million (US$3 mn), with the gross margin holding steady at 30.5% despite elevated coffee costs. That is the share of each sale left after paying for raw materials and production — solid for a small food manufacturer.

Administrative expenses rose to JMD 189 million (US$1 mn), driven by one-off costs including a redundancy expense in June 2025 and consultancy fees; management noted that without these items, the administrative expense ratio would have remained consistent with the prior year.

At a share price of roughly JMD 2.70, (US$0.02)the market values Salada at about 15.9 times its earnings per share of JMD 0.17 (US$0.00)— a price-to-earnings ratio of ~15.9×, modest for a consumer-brand manufacturer with a near-monopoly position in its niche (our calculation).

Total assets grew to JMD 1.6 billion (USD 10.24M), reflecting continued investment in inventory and operations to meet rising demand.

What it is doing now

Salada’s products are now available on Amazon, which management described as a major step in the company’s growth strategy to make its Jamaican-made products more accessible to global consumers.

The company is also launching a powdered instant sorrel drink — to be sold locally and exported — as part of its continuing effort to diversify beyond coffee.

In the first quarter ended December 31, 2025, revenues declined nearly 10% to JMD 360.4 million (US$2 mn) and net profit fell 36% to JMD 32.1 million (US$206 k), partly reflecting the impact of Hurricane Melissa on the agricultural sector.

What to watch

• Export recovery: Domestic sales accounted for JMD 1.3 billion (US$8 mn) in FY2025, with the balance from exports including new Caribbean and UK markets — but the Q1 FY2026 weather shock shows how exposed the business is to Jamaican growing conditions.
• Coffee-price risk: Raw material costs remained elevated due to high green coffee bean prices, though gross margins held at 30.5%. Any further rise in global coffee prices could squeeze those margins.
• Thin float: With only about 10.84% of shares freely traded, the stock is illiquid by global standards — price moves can be sharp on small volumes.
• Portfolio diversification: Over five years Salada has launched 12 new products, evolving from a coffee-focused brand into a more diversified portfolio. Whether those innovations sustain volume growth after the Golden Turmeric Latte surge will determine the next earnings cycle.

This is news, not investment advice.

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