标签： Jamaica

After nearly three decades serving shoppers across Jamaica, MegaMart’s original location in Portmore will permanently shut its doors on June 30, marking the end of an era for the retail chain and bringing uncertainty to roughly 200 local workers. The 75,000-square-foot store, which first opened its doors to customers in 1999 as MegaMart’s debut Jamaican outlet, has struggled with sustained losses for years, according to company chairman Gassan Azan.

In an exclusive interview with Jamaica Observer published Wednesday, Azan described the shutdown as an emotionally charged, extraordinarily difficult choice, noting that the location had long stayed afloat thanks to financial support from the chain’s Montego Bay branch. That safety net vanished late last year, when Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on October 28, destroying the Montego Bay location and leaving the struggling Portmore store without critical subsidies.

The closure is part of a broader strategic restructuring plan launched by parent company Cost Club Limited, which is consolidating its operations across two remaining locations: one on Waterloo Road in St Andrew, and a second in Mandeville, Manchester. Company leaders say the consolidation is designed to shore up the health of the overall business and improve long-term financial sustainability. In an official statement shared with the Observer, Cost Club called the Portmore location a cornerstone of MegaMart’s history, and extended gratitude to both loyal customers and dedicated staff for their decades of support and contribution.

Azan explained that overlapping financial and structural factors pushed the company to finalize the shutdown decision. The Portmore and former Montego Bay properties are bound together under a single lease agreement with multiple pension funds, a structure established years ago through a sale-and-leaseback transaction. With this 15-year agreement set to expire in the near future, the company faced major uncertainty around future capital investments. Upgrading and modernizing the Portmore store to meet current consumer standards would require an estimated $3 million or more in capital to replace outdated equipment and update the space – an investment Azan said makes no sense with the lease’s expiration imminent. In fact, the chain already enacted preliminary cost-cutting measures at the location, cutting closing time from 10:00 pm to 8:00 pm to reduce operating expenses.

Of the 700 total people employed across the MegaMart network, 200 work at the Portmore location. While Azan confirmed the company plans to reassign some Portmore staff to other locations across the chain, the exact number of workers who will be offered new roles has not yet been finalized.

Contrary to widespread speculation that the 2023 entry of membership retailer PriceSmart into the Portmore market drove the shutdown, Azan pushed back against that narrative. He noted that PriceSmart caters to a distinct consumer segment and has not had a meaningful impact on MegaMart Portmore’s sales numbers. Instead, he pointed to shifting local retail dynamics: over the past decade, dozens of new neighborhood shopping centers have opened across Portmore, eliminating the need for residents to travel to a single large-format outlet for most of their purchases.

Azan added that broader national and global retail shifts have also put massive pressure on large-format stores like those in the MegaMart network. The rise of online shopping and the growth of direct consumer imports, particularly in non-food product categories, have eroded the core sales that large-format stores depend on to cover high operational costs. The chain’s large-store model relies heavily on non-food product margins to offset the cost of maintaining a 75,000-square-foot space, and falling non-food sales have left the business model unviable for the Portmore location.

Azan noted that many other Jamaican retailers are facing identical pressures, even if most are hesitant to discuss their struggles publicly. “It’s primarily the non-food areas that are suffering,” he explained. “MegaMart’s operational costs are much higher than your average supermarket because of the amount of square footage that you’re operating and you’re expecting certain sales from your non-food area. And if those sales don’t materialise, you really don’t get the extra margin to cover the cost of running a store of that size.”

Looking ahead, Azan said he still holds out hope to reopen a smaller-format MegaMart location in Montego Bay to replace the store lost to Hurricane Melissa, though no firm timeline for reopening has been set. Reflecting on the Portmore shutdown, Azan called the moment bittersweet: “It’s very bittersweet for me to have to deal with this. But I guess it’s part of what’s going on. The advent of online shopping has a lot to do with it — more so than PriceSmart.”

Against the backdrop of Jamaica’s vibrant agricultural sector, a homegrown agro-processing startup is redefining what the island’s world-famous coffee can be. Founded by chief executive Garfield Clarke, Camgar Farm Limited has carved out a unique niche by turning locally harvested Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee into a range of inventive, value-added gourmet food products that blend traditional island flavors with modern culinary innovation.

The company’s origins trace back to 2020, when Clarke launched his venture at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an initial goal of revitalizing a small, underused coffee plantation in the iconic Wallenford coffee growing region. What began as a project to build a sustainable small-scale farming operation quickly evolved after early operational setbacks, including the dissolution of an early business partnership. Clarke pivoted the company’s strategy, shifting focus from raw coffee production to developing value-added consumer products built around Jamaica’s most celebrated agricultural export.

This strategic shift laid the groundwork for Camgar Farm’s current flagship product line, which launched official commercial sales in July 2023 after three years of product development. Today, the company’s growing portfolio stretches far beyond traditional roasted coffee beans, featuring one-of-a-kind offerings that include Sweet & Spicy Coffee Jelly, smooth Gourmet Coffee Syrup, Coffee Breadfruit Punch, and Coffee Jackass Corn. Each product fuses the rich, bold flavor of Jamaican coffee with beloved local staple ingredients, creating entirely new ways for consumers to experience Jamaican coffee outside of a standard brewed cup.

From its earliest days, Camgar Farm has centered local production in its business model. All core raw materials, including its coffee base, are sourced directly from small-scale Jamaican farmers and domestic suppliers, a choice designed to lift up the local agricultural community and ensure the authentic island flavor profile that sets its products apart.

Within Jamaica, the brand has already built a widespread retail presence, with its stocked across a growing network of sales points that span major supermarket chains, specialty food stores, agro-marts, pharmacies, and independent distributors. Key retail partners include Hi-Lo Food Stores locations across Portmore, Pavilion, Liguanea, Barbican, and Manor Park, General Foods, Loshusan Supermarket, Fresh Approach Foods, Grand Depot Ltd, Lee’s Food Fair, Progressive Foods, RADA Agro-Marts, and Alchemist Pharmacy. To expand its nationwide reach, the company also entered a distribution partnership with Frozen Delight Distributor (FDD) to streamline delivery and grow market penetration across the island.

The young company has already notched several key industry milestones that signal its growing traction in Jamaica’s food manufacturing sector. In February 2024, Camgar Farm earned a coveted spot as a selected participant in the Road Show and Pitch Competition hosted by Jamaica’s Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC), a win that delivered widespread industry exposure and independent validation of its innovative product approach. Just four months later, in June 2024, the brand received a nomination in the “Best New Product” category at the prestigious Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards, further boosting its credibility and visibility among consumers and industry peers. Most recently, its popular Gourmet Coffee Syrup launched wide public availability in July 2025.

Camgar Farm’s target audience spans a diverse range of consumers, including gourmet and specialty food enthusiasts, international tourists visiting Jamaica, members of the large Jamaican diaspora seeking authentic local products, and any consumer searching for unique, premium Jamaican-made culinary experiences. So far, market reception has been overwhelmingly positive: consumers have praised the brand for its creativity, distinct flavor combinations, and one-of-a-kind product offerings, and the company has already attracted interest from potential international buyers alongside strong local demand.

What sets Camgar Farm apart from competing food brands is its unique market positioning: it merges cutting-edge culinary innovation, uncompromising premium quality, and 100% authentic Jamaican flavors to deliver a gourmet coffee experience that cannot be found anywhere else. This differentiation has helped the brand stand out in both local and regional markets.

Looking ahead, the company has set ambitious growth goals: it aims to become Jamaica’s leading value-added coffee brand, build out robust regional and international distribution networks, and continue expanding its portfolio of inventive agro-processed food products. However, like many growing small food manufacturers, Camgar Farm faces notable headwinds. Its primary challenges include scaling up production capacity while retaining strict product consistency, controlling rising operational costs, and securing the capital and resources needed to support expansion into export markets. The company also grapples with raw material inventory management challenges, driven by seasonal growing cycles, fluctuating harvest supplies, and the need to maintain stable, consistent production schedules to meet retail demand.

Reflecting on the company’s journey from a small revitalized farm to a multi-product award-nominated brand, Clarke says he has learned key lessons for early-stage food entrepreneurs: investing earlier in formal branding, scalable production systems, and strategic partnerships would have accelerated the company’s growth and market penetration in its early years.

Clarke and the Camgar Farm team are calling on Jamaican consumers to support the local brand, noting that it represents everything that the island’s agricultural and entrepreneurial community has to offer: homegrown innovation, value-added agriculture, and the transformation of local raw materials into world-class competitive products. Every purchase of Camgar Farm product supports local Jamaican farmers and strengthens the island’s domestic agricultural economy as a whole.

In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which devastated parts of Jamaica’s agricultural sector, Clarke emphasized that the company’s mission is more important than ever. The hurricane reinforced how critical it is to strengthen Jamaica’s domestic food security and invest in local agriculture. By supporting local farmers, homegrown agro-processing, and Jamaican-made products, the country can build a more resilient, sustainable, and economically inclusive food ecosystem that benefits future generations of Jamaicans.