Caribbean Farming Limited a short introduction The Caribbean Farming Group is doing agro business in Belize, Central America. The Group started its activities in Belize in 1986, and since then the operation in Belize has grown extensively. The holding company Caribbean Farming has established itself with several Belizean companies, which today owns and operates 11 farms and other productions in Belize, on a total area of approx. 40.000 of land, out of which approx. 7.500 are cultivated with mainly bananas, citrus and shrimp. In 1986 the Caribbean Farming Group purchased Monkey River Estate, then known as The Mango Farm. With more than 1000 of mango it was at the time the biggest privately owned mango farm in Latin America. For a couple of years Monkey River Estate was run with the purpose of exporting fresh fruit and producing mango pulp for juice, and 500 of new mangoes were established. When this proved not to be a profitable business, the mangoes were processed and exported as dried fruit. In October 2001 the 1500 mango plantation was totally destroyed by Hurricane Iris, and it can never be recovered. Very early the holding company Caribbean Farming invested in the establishment of 4000 of citrus and 400 of bananas at Monkey River Estate. Now Monkey River Estate is known for its pioneering effort in transforming the former pine ridge into a low cost, but well established citrus farm. Toledo Citrus Company, a subsidiary of Caribbean Farming, now grows 4.000 of citrus with mainly Valencia oranges. At present the fruit is sold to the local citrus company for juice production. The plantation suffered severe damage from Hurricane Iris in October 2001. The entire crop was lost, all trees lost the leaves and many branches were broken and twisted, and all trees suffered damage to the root system the plantation was set back 2 to 3 years. In 2002 around 10 % of the plantation was replanted. By now the plantation is recovering, and is expected to be back to the production level of 2001 before the hurricane in the crop year 2004. During the years the Caribbean Farming Group has invested seriously in banana production, which is the cornerstone of the Group s business in Belize. Several well established farms were purchased and new plantations were established. At present the Group owns and operates 8 banana farms, and with approx. 2.500 of bananas, the Caribbean Farming Group produces nearly 40% of the country s bananas for export.
The bananas are AAA-quality, and for more than 15 years the total production has been sold through the local Banana Growers Association on a long term contract to Fyffes. In October 2001 all the Group s farms in Belize were directly hit by Hurricane Iris, a very forceful hurricane which destroyed the banana production in southern Belize. During 4 th quarter of 2001 and the year 2002, a concentrated and professional effort has been done, and the total area of bananas has been reestablished. Toledo Fish Farming started shrimp production in 1995 at Monkey River Estate. At present the company is producing shrimp from 600 of saltwater ponds, with 1-2 harvests per year. The shrimps are sold to local processors and exporters - either as head-on (a demanding quality which is sold to the European market) or as 1st quality tailsonly for the US market. Belize has maintained a relatively disease free environment and has implemented controls for those diseases occurring in the region, and the discipline of the producers is high. A challenge to Toledo Fish Farming and other producers in Belize is to produce more efficiently and to be able to do profitable business in a very competitive world market. Besides these main productions, the Caribbean Farming companies grow other crops such as cassava for human consumption and also for shrimp feed. Furthermore it runs a smaller logging- and sawmill operation. A related company owns 20.000 of forest land in the Southern part of Belize. This area with secondary forest was bought with the intention to clear part of the land, cut and sell the timber, to start a new agro-industrial division with bananas and shrimp, and to keep part of the land as a biological reserve. The hurricane destroyed most of the forest area, and Caribbean Farming was forced to focus all economic and human efforts on reestablishing the profit producing business in Belize. With 1500 people employed the Caribbean Farming Group is the most important farm enterprise in Southern Belize, and the companies are respected for their positive influence on the economic and social development in Toledo District.
Citrus, shrimp and Open Sunday..
No. 1 Name of subsidiary Prop Belize Gold 1.546 2 Tropical Produce 4.770 3 Toledo Citrus Company 5.093 4 Toledo Fish Farming 5 6 Farm 1 1.140 Cowpen Farms 1.930 7 Farm 11 510 8 Farm 12 448 9 10 D&F Farm 2 540 D&F Farm 6 1.510 11 D&F Black Creek (lease) 2.225 12 13 Riversdale Golden Stream Estate * 5.416 14 Seven Hills Estate * 11.011 15 Whitney s Estate * 5.125 Total 41.80 545
Properties in Belize erty Production Cassava 440 230 Citrus Mango Cassava 1.000 150 120 Citrus Shrimps 3.580 250 Shrimps 350 450 Lime 204 30 350 120 400 350 Sawmill 09 * Owned by a sister company
2000 in Belize Hectares and boxes produced from 1998 to May 2003 1500 1.600.000 (projection) 1000 822.000 953.000 904 908 868.000 944 960 500 485.000 545.000 546 626.000 429 304 0 0 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 sept. Iris 2002 2003 may 2003 Hectares Boxes In October 2001 the farms of the Caribbean Farming Group were directly hit by the forceful hurricane Iris. Just before Iris the Group was in the best position ever with 2 newly acquired farms, Farm 2 and Farm 6, and several hundred of newly established meristem bananas which were just beginning to harvest. Hurricane Iris totally destroyed the plantations and there were no income generating production within the group for some time to be. A huge re-investment project was implemented from day one and during 2002 in record-time, planned and organized with great professional skill and a lot of dedicated work from the management team and all the employees in Belize, and by the end of 2002 the total acreage of 2400 of bananas was reestablished, with one third of that area replanted with meristem plants, partly in a crop timing system to better satisfy market demands. Though the banana farms were covered by insurance, it only covered part of the expenses, and the Caribbean Farming Group incurred direct or indirect losses as a consequence of the hurricane of over US$ 8 million on top of the amount recovered from the insurance companies. The local banks and financial institutions were generally very supportive, and allowed grace on principal payments. The Group obtained new lending in 2002 and 2003 from local banks to finance the aftermath of Hurricane Iris, which of course adds to debt burden of the local companies. The employment of all employees continued after the hurricane, nobody lost their job, but many had the workweek reduced to 4 days for a period of time. At present the companies employ 1500 people full time. During 2003 the bananas have come back in production and the first half of 2003 saw the highest production ever in a 6 month period in the company s history.
After the Hurricane Iris 2 years after the bananas are up and running. October 2001 October 2003
The blue dots on the map show the farms of the company and the red dots show the forest properties in the south.
FC&L Caribbean Farming Holding Company Grand Cayman, Belize Gold Cowpen Farms Farm 1 D&F Farm 11 Farm 12 Tropical Produce Co. Toledo Fish Farming Toledo Citrus Company John F. Parson Riversdale Caribbean Farming Limited is the holding company of the Belizean group of companies, which owns and operates the farms in Belize. Caribbean Farming Limited is one of several holding companies within the FC&L-group. The activities of FC&L started in the 80 ies and the Group owns and operates 20 farms and agro-industrial companies in 9 countries, especially in Central and South America. Board of Directors: Anne Hansen Birgitte Krohn Else Jensen J.H.M. Nagel CEO: Financial Contr.: Principal Bankers: Soeren Soerensen Laila Mehlum The Belize Bank Limited 60 Market Square, Belize City, Belize Auditors Registered address: Wilkins Kennedy Bridge House, London Bridge London SE1 9QR Zephyr House, Mary Street, P. O. Box 709G George Town, Grand Cayman, B. W. I. Phone: + 1 305 895 1661 Fax: + 1 305 402 3121 Barclays Bank International Corporate Banking 68, Knightsbridge London SW1X 7NT Administ. Head office: E-mail: Monkey River Estate Toledo District, Belize Caribbeanfarming@earthlink.