Tortuga launches specialty rum cakes for Mexican, Dom Rep markets
Photo: Charles Johnston (left), chairman of Jamaica Producers (JP) Group and Jeffrey Hall (right), CEO of JP Group presents packages of the new TORTUGA Mexican Vanilla Rum Cake and Tortuga coffees to His Excellency Juan Jose Gonzales Mijares (second left), Ambassador of Mexico to Jamaica and his wife Guadelupe Lopez de Llergo Cornejo during a tour held on Wednesday May 1, 2019 at the JP Corporate Offices.
Tortuga Caribbean Rum Cakes Limited, a subsidiary of Jamaica Producers (JP) Group has launched two specialty rum cakes for the tourist retail market in the Dominican Republican (DR) and Mexico.
The new products — the Tortuga Mamajuana Rum Cake and the Mexican Vanilla Rum Cake — are produced in Tortuga’s state-of-the-art bakery in Kingston but includes flavours and ingredients unique to the respective Hispanic markets.
The Ambassadors of Mexico and the Dominican Republic to Jamaica sampled the products during a tour of the JP Corporate Offices in Kingston on Wednesday, May 1, 2019.
“The taste was delicious. I commend that they explored it. For the company to produce Mexican flavoured cake is a good strategy,” said Mexican Ambassador His Excellency Juan Jose Gonzalez Mijares.
Photo: Tortuga MamaJuana Rum Cake
For his part, Ambassador-Designate of the Dominican Republic to Jamaica, Félix Ramón Garcia Taveras, said he appreciates the business that JP does in the DR and will continue to support the company’s products.
Tortuga is the brand owner, marketer and manufacturer of the Caribbean’s leading food souvenir product, the Tortuga Rum Cake. It expects the specialty cakes to be a hit in the respective markets, with the DR in particular, which is leading Caribbean travel destination with visits of 6.5 million tourists in 2018.
The Mamajuana Rum Cake is inspired by the traditional and cultural Dominican beverage featuring rum, wine, honey, herbs and cured tree bark — all mixed together to create this delectable flavour that resonates with the Dominican people.
Meanwhile, the Mexican Vanilla Rum Cake is inspired from distinct and bold flavours born purely out of Mexican vanilla bean. This distinctive flavour is unique and is intended to bring a bold mixture of rum and Mexican vanilla, which symbolises a Mexican/Caribbean/Jamaican partnership.
Photo: Tortuga Mexican Vanilla Cake
According to Jamaica Producers CEO Jeffery Hall, the Tortuga Mexican Vanilla Rum Cake and Tortuga Mamajuana Rum Cake, build on the existing business of producing specialty cakes for the Caribbean and Florida markets.
The product line, produced in Tortuga’s Safe Quality Food Level 2 certified bakery in Kingston, already includes Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Rum Cake and Florida Key Lime Rum Cake, among others.
“Our product development team is currently designing products targeted to specific accounts and trading partners on the Southern USA and Central America,” he added.
Hall further revealed that the new products pay homage to Jamaica’s relationship with the Spanish-speaking markets.
Photo: Ambassador Designate from the Dominican Republic, Felix Ramon Garcia Tavaras is delighted to receive packages of the new TORTUGA Mamajuana Rum Cake and Tortuga coffees from Charles Johnston (left), chairman of Jamaica Producers (JP) Group, Jeffrey Hall (second right), CEO of JP Group and David Martin, managing director of JP Tropical Group during a tour held on Wednesday May 1, 2019 at the JP Corporate Offices.
Investing in the Caribbean
“Investment from Mexico and The Dominican Republic is good for Jamaica. It is a testament to our openness and attractiveness as a destination. It also makes us more competitive and more networked with international markets,” he said.
He added that the island has been the beneficiary of significant inbound investment from the Dominican Republic and Mexico, across many sectors including tourism and attractions, construction material, airports, motor vehicles and equipment and agriculture.
“We continue to invest in marketing developments to realise further revenue growth across the travel retail sector”, JP Group said in its annual report.
Tortuga has strategically focused on the travel retail market across the Caribbean, including most major air and cruise ports, principal hotel and gift locations and over 100 cruise ships.
This investment is paired with new product innovation, which took a major step forward in 2018 with the launch of a bite-sized rum cake product (Tortuga Rum Cake Bites).
Tortuga’s operations extend across the Caribbean with manufacturing facilities also in the Cayman Islands, a distribution facility in Florida and a commercial presence in those locations and in Barbados.