BREAKING NEWS. Diageo takes Captain Morgan production to St Croix.

[Rum Runner]

At this moment Governor de Jongh of the USVI is announcing on TV and Radio that the USVI has entered into a Public/Private agreement with Diageo to bring a new rum distillery to St Croix.

The 30 year agreement will see an investment of US$165,000,000. in the building of a state of the art distillery to supply Diageo's needs for the Captain Morgan brand.

Construction of the new facility is expected to be completed by 2011. The capacity of the facility is expected to be 20,000,000 proof gallons per year.

The economic return to the USVI is expected to be US$100,000,00 per year when full capacity is reached.

Governor de Jongh also paid due to the meetings he had in Paris a few weeks ago with Pernod/Ricard, the new owners of Cruzan. He expressed optimism that Cruzan's new owners will grow the brand.

The Governor said that Diageo officials will be on Island later in the week, and that more detail will be forthcoming.

The above information was noted while listening to AM Radio WVWI 1000, St. Thomas, USVI.

Personal note: This amounts to a bit of an economic coup for St Croix and the USVI. Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean must be reeling at this development.

[Edward Hamilton]

That is a coup indeed for St Croix. Loosing Captain Morgan will be a real loss for Puerto Rico. Investment in St Croix can only be good for the island. I hope they'll incorporate environmental initiatives in the new construction.

[RobertBurr]

PR from Fox:

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.

[Rum Runner]

Here is a transcript of the Governor's speech as reported by the St Croix Source.

[Scottes]

Better stock up on The Captain before the taste changes!

[weier]

Hello all. I think this could be a good thing in the long run. there are other distillers out there like DONQ who will perhaps decide to venture further out and tell the whole world that "regardless Puerto Rico still makes great rum"

[Rum Runner]

Good one Scottes!

I know this will not affect most users of the good Captain Morgan..But the economic value to the USVI is very important. And down here that is big news.

[Edward Hamilton]

Originally Posted by RobertBurr

PR from Fox:
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.

I was about to ask what you were smoking down there in Coral Gables while you were calling Captain Morgan a premium spirit then I noted that that commented was attributed to PR from Fox. Is that the same Fox that broke the news that Bush had beat Gore in Florida in 2008. I certainly trust those guys, or not!

[RobertBurr]

Personally, I don't have much to say about the good Captain's products, so I just passed along the word from Fox. They also reported that Captain Crunch was a premium breakfast product and a global leader among seafaring cereals.

[chipnwho]

Rumor has it that Peter Pan and the Lost Boys have been at work on a distillery on Neverland Island and plan on introducing a "Captain Hook" line of rum to rival "Captain Morgan". Tinker Bell will be holding a press conference later today.