Black Immigrant Daily News
To meet increasing international demand, rum distillers Hampden Estate invested $240 million to expand its ageing warehouse facilities.
The two warehouses will span 32,000 square feet and house 10,000 barrels, moving Hampden’s storage capacity up from 2,700 barrels.
The warehouses are specially designed in consultation with Tank Weld for optimum ageing at Hampden, factoring temperature, humidity and airflow. It also features a state-of-the-art fire detection and suppression system.
One warehouse is already complete and filled, with the other slated to be completed by year-end.
This expansion will allow the distillery – through its global distribution partners, La Maison & Velier – to increase its production and availability to the 27 markets it currently has distribution contracts with.
Additionally, the distillery will have a new bottling plant, which will aid in allowing Hampden to meet its goal of bottling all its products on site.
Currently, many of the expressions are bottled overseas, while Rum Fire and the annually released limited ‘Great House’ distillery editions are bottled on the estate.
At the official opening of the ageing facility held last Friday at Hampden Estate in Trelawny, chairman of the Spirits Pool Association, Clement ‘Jimmy’ Lawrence, in his keynote address, indicated that in 2021 the country recorded US$55 million in revenues — despite the lag effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With transformation, the Jamaican rum industry has the potential to eclipse other categories over time, even including the Cognac industry. Surely, a journey of 1,000 miles starts with a first step, and the rum industry is unmistakably moving with urgency along that path. These investments [at Hampden Estate] and others to come signal a bright future for growth and profitability,” Lawrence said.
Christelle Harris, Director of Hampden Estate, and Andrew Hussey, CEO of Everglades Farms Limited is flanked by (left) Thierry B?nitah and (right) Luca Gargano, Directors of La Maison & Velier, Hampden Estate’s global distribution partner.
Incorporated in 1753, Hampden Estate is a rum producing and exporting company owned by the Hussey family-controlled Everglades Farms.
At the official ceremony, the warehouse facilities were dedicated to the family patriarch, the late Lawrence F.C. Hussey, a renowned businessman and horse racing trainer. Described as a visionary, he is credited with pioneering the establishment of Hampden Estate’s rum brand.
Since acquiring the distillery in 2009, Everglades Farms has since then bottled its rum brand, tripling its warehouse space used for ageing rum and has added four 5,000-gallon copper pot stills, increased cane-crushing capacity, and converted its operations to LNG, including a 200-kW Microturbine.
Despite the modern changes, Director of Hampden Estate Christelle Harris emphasised that “Hampden Estate is a representation of Jamaican heritage and we were given the gift and responsibility of preserving that heritage. We now share that heritage with the world. We have made a concerted effort to stick to production methods exactly as they were and we want to be a representation of what Jamaica has to offer”.
Before being acquired, Hampden was producing only 140,000 LAA (litres of absolute alcohol). It currently produces 1 million LAA per annum — of which 95 per cent is exported.
Spanning 16,000 square feet, the ageing warehouse will house some 5,000 additional barrels.
The distillery relies on a unique blend of environmental factors mixed with the old-world copper pot distilling techniques that flavour the award-winning rum.
Hampden’s first bottled product under Everglades’ ownership Rum Fire has been awarded numerous times since its initial release in 2010, picking up awards in Italy, Germany, France, and the US.
The distillery employs 160 people, with 90 per cent of its staff residents from surrounding communities.
MP of Northern Trelawny Tova Hamilton, who delivered the opening remarks at the ceremony, also said, “Businesses like these are the backbone of our country and benefit our communities significantly. In a time when global markets are experiencing economic shocks, this official opening and dedication of this rum ageing facility signals that Trelawny is open for business”.
NewsAmericasNow.com
