Paris Ruby eyes larger slice of global cake market

WESTERN BUREAU:

Zelecia Smith, chief executive officer of St James-based Paris Ruby Company Limited, is aiming to make the company’s cakes and cake mixes an international household name, with plans to expand distribution islandwide and into Canada and Europe by 2027.

Smith outlined the expansion plans on Sunday at the launch of Paris Ruby’s five fruitcake mixes, held at the ATL Automotive Showroom in Montego Bay, St James.

The new range comprises the company’s original fruitcake flavour, made with eggs and rum; an eggless version retaining the other ingredients; a non-alcoholic option; a strawberry flavour; and a gluten-free, sugar-free and eggless mix designed for diabetics.

“One day you will hear Paris Ruby across the world, and it will be done, no matter how long it takes,” Smith said.

“There will come a time when you do not have money to go and buy a baked cake, but you will have to make it at home. The fruitcake mix is not just for the present, but it is also thinking about the future,” added Smith.

In an interview with The Gleaner following the launch, Smith explained that Paris Ruby has already tapped into the United States market by making orders available via online purchases.

“The plan is to first cement our footprint in Jamaica, and then move to the international markets. We are already on Amazon.com, and that is for overseas in the United States, but now we are looking to cement our footprints in the Canada region and also the European region, and we are hoping that by next year, we would be in that domain,” said Smith.

“We are basically just exploring our products, and how people respond to the products, and we will use that to navigate how we move forward. Paris Ruby was not meant to be just a Jamaican brand, but to be an international brand of Jamaica,” Smith continued. “In the future, it is our hope that Paris Ruby will have our products being in a lot of stories, and for us to be easily recognised as a reputable brand of Jamaica.”

Paris Ruby, which also provides cheesecakes, bread puddings, banana breads, and baked fruitcakes, started in 2020 as a home-based pastry-making business during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also operated a café at Montego Bay’s Overton Plaza in 2022, but that facility was eventually closed and restructured to focus on developing the company’s cake mix product line.

During Sunday’s launch, the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association Vice-President Cecil Foster urged Jamaicans to support local entrepreneurs like Smith, so that Jamaican companies such as Paris Ruby can become major players on the global market.

“We want Jamaicans to step up and do what you have seen here tonight, because Jamaica cannot remain the way it is. We are beautiful, but we are not rich, and US$7,000 to US$8,000 per capita is not enough for me, or for my people,” said Foster, referencing Jamaica’s gross domestic product per capita as estimated by the World Bank.

“What you are doing this evening is not just to come here and celebrate and have fun, but to make sure that even if Ms Smith’s product costs you a dollar more, you buy Jamaican. We need this brand not only to be a brand in Montego Bay, but to be a Jamaican brand, a Caribbean brand, and an international brand,” Foster added.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com