The Virgin Islands Agriculture Development Corporation has made an offer to purchase and reopen the assets of St. Croix Dairy Products Inc., which did business as Island Dairies, the corporation announced Tuesday.
The St. Croix Economic Development Initiative (SEDI), a new, nonprofit organization of the V.I. Agriculture Development Corporation, recently announced another project it is undertaking, Virgin Puree, to create products based on locally grown produce for both local consumption and export, according to the SEDI news release.
According to SEDI’s announcement, "The Virgin Puree local natural fruits frozen preservation project will offer this opportunity to combine the two brands of Island Dairies products and Virgin Puree product line for export to larger markets in the Caribbean and the U.S.”
“The Island Dairy physical plant and existing infrastructure lends [itself] to the Virgin Puree model,” the statement continued. The new enterprise said that by improving the physical plant, incorporating renewable and efficient energy equipment, “right-sizing” the Island Dairies business model and using a consumer member ownership cooperative, it “will mitigate the kind of operating problems Island Dairies had encountered in the past."
When St. Croix Dairy Products shut down its Island Dairies operations after 52 years in business, 25 employees lost their jobs. At the height of its operation it employed 41. Tuesday’s news release did not speculate on future employment.
Further information can be obtained by calling Anthony Weeks of SEDI at 1-914-574-1213.
