National Rums of Jamaica’s Evon Brown retires

After a 55-year career in the sugar and rum industries, National Rums of Jamaica’s managing director and former West Indies Rum & Spirit Producers Association (WIRSPA) chairman Evon Brown is to retire.

Evon Brown, a prominent rum industry figure who has held prominent roles in National Rums of Jamaica and WIRSPA, is to retire after 55 years in the sector

Brown, who served as a director of the WIRSPA for 31 years and held terms as chairman, went on pre-retirement leave on 1 October and will officially retire in January 2017.

Over his career, Brown held the role of director of the National Rums of Jamaica Group of Companies for 36 years, chairman of the Caribbean Molasses Company for 39 years, and chairman of the Spirits Pool Association for 20 years.

One of Brown’s many career highlights includes the development of a plan to inject capital in the National Rum Group from Caribbean distillers including the West Indies Rum Distillery of Barbados, Demerara Distillers Ltd from Guyana, and Diageo. As a result, the Group now operates one of the most modern rum distilleries in the region and is now poised to become a more significant player in the international rum market.

In a statement, National Rums of Jamaica said: “The Directors of National Rums expressed their deepest gratitude to Evon for his unswerving dedication to the rum industry for over half a century and his hard work and deep insights in overcoming the numerous challenges the Industry faced over those years.

“The Board proposes to suitably convey to Evon its tremendous appreciation for the magnificent job which Evon has carried out both for the rum and spirits industry in general and the company in particular over the many years.”

Komal Samaroo,National Rums of Jamaica chairman, added that a successor for Brown has been recruited, but declined to name them.

National Rums of Jamaica is a leading supplier of Jamaican bulk rum and says it is working to develop a portfolio of finished brands.