Caribbean Bottling Company S.A.

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  The proposed investment consists of an IFC loan of US$5 million to finance the expansion of Caribbean Bottling Company (“CBC” or the “company”). CBC is a bottling company in Haiti, producing drinking water under the brand name “Culligan” (in bulk 5-gallon jugs as well as 1.5-liter, 20-ounce and 12-ounce PET bottles) totaling approximately 905,885 hectoliters (82% of total volume sold), fruit flavored beverages under the proprietary brand “Frooty” (in 20-ounce PET bottles) and ice tea under the proprietary brand “Brizz” (in 20-ounce PET bottles) totaling 219,256 hectoliters (18% of total volume sold). It also distributes Culligan water filtration systems as part of its franchise agreement with Culligan International.  The company was established in 1973 as Sada and Debrosse and was operated as a family business; it became the exclusive representative in Haiti of Culligan International (a global water filtration company) and was the first to provide bottled drinking water. In 2005, the current majority shareholders took over the management of the company and renamed it Caribbean Bottling Company. In 2013, the company completed a major expansion (resulting in a 30,000 square-foot production facility within its existing site) and is currently the fifth largest player in the beverage market in Haiti (with approximately 5% of the market share) and a market leader in the treated water sector (with 10% of the market share), recognized for the quality and reliability of its products.  The company is located on a 5-hectare site in a mixed-used zone in Croix-des-Bouquets, approximately 15 km north of downtown Port-au-Prince. There are 4 buildings (totaling 93,000 square feet) on the site occupying approximately 60% of the available space; additional on-site operations include groundwater extraction through two wells, water treatment, four bottling lines in 2 different buildings, cleaning 5-gallon jug for reuse, jug and PET bottle blowing, truck loading and unloading areas, raw material and finished product storage areas, quality control laboratory, cafeteria with shaded seating area, and administrative offices. As an existing distributor of Culligan International, the company is already adhering to good international industry practices through implementation of a quality assurance program, which includes regular laboratory testing, and is working toward receiving ISO 9001 (quality management).  CBC owns a fleet of 34 delivery vehicles (for 5-gallon jugs) to reach both directly and indirectly 2,500 points of sale, most of which are small retailers. The company’s distribution capacity is supplemented by an external fleet of independent contractors. Currently, the company does not own warehouses to store finished product but is considering (not under the scope of this project) acquiring additional land in a strategic location in the north and south where groundwater is still relatively underexploited and renting warehouses to improve distribution to rural areas. In 2018, the company employed 407 open-ended staff. The company plans to purchase 32 additional trucks, to be used for the transport of finished goods. With the proposed project expansion, the company anticipates creating 100 additional jobs.  Based on the company’s strong distribution network, CBC has been operating near full capacity. The investment will allow CBC to continue to grow its water and juice business as well as introduce new beverage products (ready-to-drink teas and sports drinks). CBC is in the process of developing a master plan to reorganize the existing site. The investment will support CBC’s expansion plan, which includes: i) a new small packaging bottling line, (ii) a new 5-gallon bottling line, iii) expansion of distribution and warehousing capacity, (iv) PET bottle recycling activities, and v) incremental working capital needs (the “Project”).