By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Top AML Foods executives have pledged that the mid-April 2025 blaze which destroyed two stores “will not define us” with the company holding to its target of hitting $250m in annual sales by 2030.

Both Franklyn Butler, the BISX-listed food retail and franchise group’s chairman, and Gavin Watchorn, its president and chief executive, struck an upbeat tone in its just-released 2025 annual report with the former branding the loss of its Solomon’s Old Trail and Cost Right stores “a temporary setback” and the latter revealing it plans to re-open at the same fire “devastated” location by year-end 2026.

Mr Watchorn, noting that both stores were written-off less than a year after AML Foods had invested $22m in their remodelling, told shareholders: “Our sales growth was aided by the remodelled Solomon’s Old Trail and Cost Right Nassau locations, which opened in August and November of 2024.

“Unfortunately, these locations were destroyed by a fire in April 2025. As devastating as this fire was, it will not define us, nor will it disrupt our vision or long-term strategy. We expect to re-open our Old Trail facility by year-end 2026.

“We have a very defined strategy for growth over the coming years – a mixture of continued focus on our current operations, targeted acquisitions like our acquisition of Eleuthera Markets in late 2024, and expansion of our B2B (business-to-business) operations. We remain confident in our goal to record improved revenues and earnings.”

Noting that AML Foods had achieved “a milestone” by breaking through a $200m top-line for the 12 months to end-April 2025, with $203m in sales for the year, the AML Foods president and chief executive added that this was “a new record for our company and an important step along our path to becoming a $250m company by April 2030”.

This was reaffirmed later in the annual report, which asserted: “Our commitment to reaching annualised revenues of $250m remains. Despite the loss of two locations, we are committed to meet or exceed this goal by 2030.

“We are confident in our business model and the processes we have worked to put in place over the past few years to support sustained growth in the foreseeable future. As we look ahead to next year, we are keen to quickly recover the lost revenues from the fire that destroyed both Cost Right Nassau and Solomon’s Old Trail.

“While the event was both devastating and unexpected, our established brand loyalty has supported the transfer of some business to Solomon’s Yamacraw. We are looking forward in 2025-26 to improved sales from our Eleuthera Markets location. Preliminary results following its opening in May 2025 already indicate that our investment will provide positive returns.

“Additionally, as all stores earmarked for e-commerce are now fully equipped and functioning using e-commerce, we are looking at ways to bring greater awareness to our e-commerce platform and have customers take advantage of ordering online,” AML Foods added. 

“We have seen through our Domino’s online business that an increase in the percentage of online shoppers has a direct and positive correlation to increased average basket size.” But, noting the challenges and risks posed by economic conditions, the BISX-listed group added: “Consumer spending was stable in 2024, backed by tourism-led growth.

“However, certain markets were negatively impacted in 2024-2025 and may remain stagnant in the short term. Our Exuma Markets store was impacted due to the closure of Sandals, a major resort on the island, which left many without a job on the island and negatively impacted comparative average ticket performance in that location.

“In Grand Bahama, we have seen tremendous growth in market share. However, with new investment opportunities on the island, staff retention has been impacted. The development, training and retention of our associates remains a top priority for our organisation, and our engagement scores have shown an improvement over prior years.”

Mr Watchorn’s positive outlook was backed by Mr Butler, who told AML Foods investors and the wider Bahamian capital markets: “During the year we faced one of the most difficult events in our company’s history - the loss of our Solomon’s Old Trail and Cost Right Nassau locations due to a devastating fire.

“While this incident had short-term impacts on our operations, it does not alter our long-term objectives or growth trajectory. It is, and will remain, a temporary setback. What stands out most is the resilience and unity of our team. We are exceptionally proud of how our people responded - with strength, professionalism and compassion. Importantly, we retained all team members from the impacted locations, reflecting our commitment to our people and our values.”

The AML Foods annual report for the year to end-April 2025 disclosed that the group has found “a temporary location” for its Cost Right brand at a property owned by a company affiliated with its chairman, Mr Butler, with a monthly rental rate of $36,000 exclusive of VAT.

“On June 30, 2025, the company entered into a new lease agreement for a temporary location for its Cost Right Nassau business. The lease terms are for 18 months with an option to renew for a further 12 months,” AML Foods audited financial statements disclosed.

And the annual report confirmed elsewhere: “Subsequent to year end, on June 30, 2025, the company entered into a new lease agreement with Milo Butler Corporation for a temporary location for its Cost Right Nassau business.... The lessor is with a company in which Franklyn Butler is a related party.”

Mr Watchorn, meanwhile, said AML Foods had slashed shrinkage - internal theft, lost or damaged inventory, and food spoilage before it is sold - by almost 50 percent with the resulting savings and reduced expenses boosting net margins.

“Our investments in technology and data analytics, operational efficiencies and customer engagement are allowing us to continuously improve how we serve our customers and our communities, resulting in higher transaction counts, basket sizes and customer satisfaction ratings,” he said. 

“Our targeted sales growth, along with our near 50 percent reduction in shrink, has allowed us to improve our net margins and record improved operational performance.” Mr Butler struck a similar tone, adding: “We have continued to invest in technology and automation to enhance operational efficiency and grow customer engagement. These efforts are yielding measurable results.

“By leveraging data-driven insights, we have significantly improved our ability to serve customers more effectively. Notably, we have made strong progress in improving in-stock levels through the implementation of optimised store planograms and have advanced our efforts in personalising our offerings to better align with individual customer needs.

“These enhancements are enabling us to build stronger customer relationships and operate with increased efficiency across our business.” Following its 2025 year-end, AML Foods said it had received a total $25.094m from its insurers as payouts relating to the Old Trail Road fire.