24 June 2008 - Virgin Islands Governor John P. deJongh, Jr. today announced a landmark public-private initiative with Diageo, the world's leading spirits, wine and beer company for the construction and operation of a high capacity distillery on the island of St. Croix.
The new facility will produce bulk rum beginning in 2011. Beginning in 2012, the distillery will supply all bulk rum used to make Captain Morgan branded products for the United States. Captain Morgan is a global leader among premium spirits and is the second leading rum consumed in the world, with steady growth expected in the coming years. It is estimated that the environmentally sound, state of the art distillery will have capacity to distill up to 20 million proof gallons per year. This 30-year commitment will provide a major economic stimulus for the entire Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Governor deJongh said, “This Agreement, when ratified by the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, marks the greatest single financial step forward we have taken in this Territory in fifty years. This will bring jobs and a tremendous future stream of revenue, a long-term source of funds that will go far towards solving many of the challenges we face as a Territory.”
The Governor continued, “When fully built out and operating, the Diageo rum facility will enable us to address our long-term challenges, in particular our unfunded pension liability and long needed capital projects without having to take the money from other areas of need, or borrow from our children.”
“We are always looking for ways to secure long term, high quality production for all our brands,” said David Gosnell, Managing Director, Global Supply and Global Procurement for Diageo plc. “The investment in – and development of –the project on St. Croix continues the tradition of Captain Morgan sourcing from the best bulk rum stocks in the Caribbean and enhances Diageo’s position in the global rum market as the brand continues to grow.”
The development of the new Diageo rum distillery will diversify the Virgin Islands rum industry, which enjoys an existing relationship with primary rum producer, Cruzan VIRIL.
Governor deJongh described the public private partnership with Diageo as “a real success story, one that we can all be proud of as Virgin Islanders.” He continued, “That we have attracted such a vast and successful multi-national corporation to our shores can only serve as a signal that we are beginning to work together to build the Virgin Islands of prosperity and opportunity.”