Derrimon Trading Company

WRITTEN BY JACK SLATER

The Derrimon story began in 1998, when Derrick Cotterell, founder and CEO of the Derrimon Trading Company imported several containers of granulated sugar to supply to local manufacturers of syrup. After the venture proved successful and more importantly profitable he quickly planned to expand his reach and now in 2014 his company is one of the leading distributors of products in Jamaica.

GROWTH GROWTH GROWTH

“We received word that Nestle was seeking contract

distributors,” he reveals, “As they were changing

their market strategy and wanted to give greater

focus on select accounts while having its remaining handled by

regional sub-distributors. As the world’s leading nutirion, health and

wellness company it was a strategic decision to partner with them,”

Derrick sought out the opportunity, and after consultations with

Nestle, the recently formalized and relatively unknown company of

Derrimon Trading was chosen to be one of Nestlé’s four regional sub

distributors in Jamaica receiving responsibility for the Kingston, St.

Andrew, St. Catherine and St. Thomas markets.

Strengthening The TeamWhat the Nestle contract did was bring about the formal start of

Derrimon and ensure the steady expansion of the business from year

to year. However, Derrick saw the need to enhance his company’s

efficiency in distributions and ensure a better market penetration.

This was when Winston Thomas, a veteran in the business of

distribution with over 27 years of solid experience was brought

in to strengthen the team. After years working for the likes of

GraceKennedy, Lascelles de Mercado and Pepsi Jamaica he was

swiftly appointed as Derrimon’s General Manager.

And with both Derrick and Winston focused on the business it

was time to move to the next level and this involved a move into the

rice field, “It was clear that Nestle products by themselves, could not

create the success of which we needed,” he relates, “And increasingly,

the itch to diversify, innovate and expand became unbearable.”

It was fortunate then that Nestle did not object to Derrimon

diversifying its clientele and soon they began exploring the potential

of importing rice and October 2006 saw the first importation of the

first container of rice which proved to be an unparalleled success, “The

demand for the product escalated and soon we became synonymous

with rice,” he explains, “There we established our reputation for

unmatched dependability, availability and excellent distribution.”

Continuous Innovation And A Drive For Growth

Even having established themselves firmly in the rice and Nestle

markets, the need to innovate and expand was now something felt

by the entire Derrimon team and this lead to several developments

“The demand for the product escalated and soon we became synonymous with rice. There we established our reputation for unmatched dependability, availability and excellent distribution.” Derrick Cotterell, Founder and CEO of the Derrimon Trading Company

DERRIMON TRADING COMPANY

Looking at their current success and status it would come as a surprise to know that the venture was not an instant success with Derrick’s focus being pulled to focus on another venture, Cotterell’s Texaco gas station which was owned and operated by the Cotterell family. In fact it was not until four years later in 2002 that Derrimon became firmly established into itself.

logistics support, warehouse storage rental and cold storage facilities.

With more than thirty years of operations, Sampars is one of the

largest and oldest wholesale businesses in Kingston

Thanks to them, Derrimon distributes island-wide with a fleet

of over forty delivery trucks and this coverage ensures effective

engagement between Derrimon and supermarkets, wholesalers,

grocery stores, pharmacies, convenient stores and food service

channels all across Jamaica.

Growth, Growth, GrowthThrough its years the one consistent theme spanning the

existence of Derrimon Trading Company, from its inception to today

is its growth.

At the start in 2002, when Derrimon first started distributing for

Nestle, it had less than 1,000 sq ft of storage space at his disposal and

for years the lack of adequate storage space would be a major and

recurring obstacle for the company. The solution came in the form of

stringent business planning and faith.

“My mother Monica Bell, was running her own business in

Kingston at the time and allowed us to store goods in her warehouse

when needed,” he relates, “Derrimon’s imports outgrew the space in

a flash however, and more space

was required.”

Dealing with outgrowing the

available space is not the worst

problem a business can face, and

in November 2007 the company

found warehouse space at 8-10

Ashenheim Road where, despite

having only rented a 2,500 sq ft

space, the owner of the complex

allowed the company access

to an adjoining 45,000 sq ft

warehouse.

Finally in 2009, Derrimon

was alerted that prime

warehousing facilities were

available at 235 Marcus Garvey

Drive with approximately

100,000 sq. ft. of warehousing

facilities, spread across 3.5 acres

of land which was large enough

DERRIMON TRADING COMPANY

over the next years. In 2009

they established their own cold

storage division offering items

such as offals, seafood and

mutton and shortly after a leap

of faith that took them beyond

the realms of mere distribution

and into the world of wholesaling

by acquiring Sampars Cash and

Carry.

“In the latter part of 2008,

Sam Richards who was the

owner of Sampars Cash and

Carry contacted Derrimon and

said that he wanted to sell his

business,” Derrick reveals, “Not

simply to the highest bidder but

to us particularly after hearing

about our success and growth.”

Through Sampars Cash &

Carry, the company also operates

for Derrimon to have its warehouse and offices together as the

company had always wanted.

The BoardIn 2009 Derrimon Trading established its board of directors.

Derrick Cotterell, Derrimon’s Founder & Chief Executive Officer, was

appointed chairman. The other appointees to board were Monique

Cotterell, Ian Kelly, Winston Thomas and Attorney-at-Law Alexander

Williams, as an external director. President of the Airport Authority

of Jamaica and Chief Executive Officer of the Norman Manley

International Airport (NMIA) Limited, Earl Anthony Richards, was

subsequently appointed as an external director. And together this

team would be responsible for the future of the company.

2014 And OnwardsThe trend of growing through all economic climates

seemed set to continue as of March 2014, Derrimon

Trading Company Ltd. reported to have trebled their

earnings and added Blue Power and Delect to their business

portfolio. This included an increase of net profits increased to $49.9

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Million and revenue grew by 10% from $4.7 billion to $5.2 billion for

2013.

Furthermore the company plans to capitalize on this growth by

investing heavily in its plans for expansion which include plans to

increase the number of Sampars Cash and Carry wholesale store

outlets to as much as seven in five years, to Increase the footprint of

its wholesale store subsidiary as part of a five-year plan and to ramp

up its e-commerce portal and allow members of the diaspora to order

online and have goods delivered to their homes and businesses in

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DERRIMON TRADING COMPANY

001 876 901 3344

WWW.DERRIMON.COM