Angostura chairman Terrence Bharath has urged his team to push innovation, particularly after the gruelling years endured by the company as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Never think because you have a winner product that you will always win, there is always somebody in the back waiting to take your spot,” Bharath said.
Bharath gave this warning during an Earnings Call at the House of Angostura, where the company’s six-month financial results were presented to stockholders in person for the first time in over two years. The event was held yesterday at the company’s offices in Laventille.
“We thought that was important to share with you in your various capacities the results of Angostura for the last six months. Yes, we have come to talk a bit about the results over the last six months. We’ve had a colourful experience since 2020 with the lockdown. We don’t sell medicine, we don’t sell vaccination we are in the entertainment industry and as we all know it’s the last to recover,” Bharath said.
The company produced a profit after tax of $67.6million, but the Angostura chairman admitted it took a lot of hard work to achieve such results.
“What I can say is the last two years were a very difficult period in our lives at Angostura in that we have to work as hard as we have ever worked before in producing results even for 2020 when there was a total lockdown. We missed Carnival twice, bars were closed,” said Bharath.
He said, however, the company adapted and even produced hand sanitiser during the lockdown period, which underlined the innovative side of the company.
“When you consider the product and how it works on your hands and how it dissipates and that’s the thing Angostura is always noted for. Since I took the chair in 2018, my mantra has been innovation. It has been always trying to do better than we did before with uniqueness,” he said, “Our principle aim is always to outdo ourselves Innovation always excellence is our marker.”
He noted the creation of Tamboo, both the new brand and its unique bottle as well as rebrand of LLB to Angostura Chill, were other examples of needed innovation within the company during the period.