BARBADOS ICE COMPANY LTD
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INTERVIEW: BICO LTD
SWEET OF SUSTAINABILITY Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Karen Williams-Thompson, Sales Director at BICO Ltd, about a new manufacturing facility, environmentallyfriendly packaging, and supporting Barbados. In 1901, the Bridgetown Crystal Ice Company Ltd merged with the Barbados Ice Company, creating a new company called the Barbados Ice Company Ltd, with facilities on Bay Street in Bridgetown. Initially, the Barbados Ice Company exclusively manufactured ice, and, after 1910, offered a cold storage facility for local business people.
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This all changed in 1950, when the Barbados Ice Company Ltd opened a new ice cream production facility, with state-of-the-art equipment for the production, freezing, packaging, and storage of ice cream. After the new products were successful, the company moved to new premises at Harbour Industrial Park, supplying cold storage facilities to the Barbados Port Authority, and in December 1976, the Barbados Ice Company Ltd became BICO Ltd, as the company began discontinuing ice production – and added a new form of distribution, with a small fleet of ice cream trucks. BICO has over thirty flavors and exports to territiories in the region including; Antigua, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. BICO is a home-grown Barbadian success story, listed on the Barbados
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INTERVIEW: BICO LTD
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Stock Exchange as BCO. But tragedy struck in 2009, when a fire destroyed the Harbour Road manufacturing facility. “The fire was devastating, and forced BICO to seek manufacturing for our ice creams in various offshore locations, including Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, and some in Surname,” says Karen Williams-Thompson, Sales Director at BICO. “There were a lot of challenges after the fire, in particular maintaining supply to meet demand, as well as ensuring as many as possible of the staff remained employed. Under the guidance of the executive chairman, though, the company didn’t miss a beat. We transitioned suppliers to continue providing ice cream to all the customers with very little disconnect.” NEW FACILITY It took a decade for BICO to bring all the various legal conflicts involved with the fire to a close. Proceedings recently wound up, and BICO is preparing to begin work ona new manufacturing plant. “The factory will be back up by the end of 2019 in time for the new winter season here,” says Ms. Williams-Thompson.“It will manufacture the 4 | URECON / LOGSTOR
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ice cream here, which will be a very positive step for BICO. As It brings the production of the ice cream back home, and Barbadians are very loyal. It will give us some leverage in terms of competitiveness. Over the years the market has expanded and there are many more competitors here than there were, even as far back as 2009, when we had the fire. So manufacturing here and being close on the ground will allow us to respond to the market quickly and efficiently.” The new factory will also facilitate the creation of new, unique products. “We will be able to begin imagining and creating
our own flavors, allowing us to have offerings based on foods specific to Barbados, such as passion fruit, nutmeg, ginger, or pomegranate,” says Ms. Williams-Thompson.“It will also mean that we’ll employ additional staff to work in the factory, helping the country as a whole.”
BARBADOS AS A COUNTRY IS MAKING ITS OWN PLANS TO REPOSITION ITSELF IN A MORE PRODUCTIVE AND HOSPITABLE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION While the new factory is the biggest new development for BICO, it certainly isn’t the only one. Over the past few years, the company has focused on reducing their environmental footprint, through a partnership with British packaging producer Vegware. “In 2016, Executive Chairman Edwin Thirlwell decided to move the company in the direction of eco-friendly products and processes,” says Ms. Williams-Thompson. “Vegware is a manufacturer of and global specialist in plant-
based compostable food service packaging to restaurants, vendors, and other clients in the food industry. Vegware packaging biodegrades in just 12 weeks. It has been tried and tested, and has passed several independent standards. We use Vegware products for our 1-liter tubs of ice cream, and we’re very proud of the relationship.” Since Mr. Thirlwell began his push to make BICO products more environmentally-friendly, the rest of Barbados has followed suit. A government ban on
single-use plastics and Styrofoam in the culinary retail industry started on April 1st 2019, as part of a broader governmental push towards a plastic-free Barbados by 2020. “That has driven the momentum of changing the whole culture, changing the way they we do things,” says Ms. Williams-Thompson.“Styrofoam and single-use plastic was a lot less expensive, so they were more costefficient for business. Now everyone has to make the change. BICO is really proud to say we led that charge years ago, when most
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INTERVIEW: BICO LTD
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people didn’t give it any consideration. That speaks volumes to Mr. Thirlwell’s vision and the direction he wanted to take the company in. Today, all BICO packaging is at least recyclable, even the larger tubs.” BICO has also engaged in a large-scale push to embrace renewable energy and reduce fossil fuel consumption. “Everything here today is run by photovoltaic panels,” explains Ms. Williams-Thompson. “All of our processes at the moment are solar-powered. Support for the environment extends also to electric vehicles, which reduce the company’s dependency on fossil fuels while conserving energy. All of the vehicles used by salespeople on the road are electrical.”
Oistins Festival, which we sent an eco-friendly line of products. Junior football is also a significant investment for us. It’s seen as an investment in the youth, the same youth that will grow into the adults that consume BICO products. So we see that as a continuation, a compounding effect, and this type of sponsorship continues to build on the goodwill of the BICO brand.” As BICO moves forward with a new factory, the future looks bright for the Barbadian ice cream manufacturer. “We’re now looking at how to build our profits over the next year,” says Ms. Williams-Thompson.“Meanwhile, Barbados as a country is making its own plans to reposition itself in a
more productive and hospitable economic environment. BICO itself will try to echo that direction. As well as continuing to be at the forefront of the eco-friendly packaging, we want to share education and information about eco-friendly processes with the public at large. Many don’t understand how to use these products best, and so that’s something we will continue to do. Now that we have laid out our plans for the future, we look forward to completing them, and moving on to new challenges.” c
AT THE FOREFRONT Over many years, BICO has become a Barbadian cultural icon, and the company ensures they give back to the local community. “When a member of the public plans an event, whether it’s a fundraiser or a sports day, we give donations to help fund the event,” says Ms. Williams-Thompson.“The company also has branded tents for people to use if they need shelter for an outdoor event. We also sponsor activities like the URECON / LOGSTOR
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Barbados Ice Company Ltd Harbour Industrial Park, St Michael, Barbados o: +1 (246) 430 - 2100 www.bicoicecream.com
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