Over the past few decades branding has taken on special significance. In an increasingly competitive and globalised marketplace, corporations seek to differentiate and distinguish their products and services from the competition. Companies spend millions annually to enhance name recognition and to infuse their operations with the emotional attributes they hope will be important to customers.

Grace, Kennedy is in the enviable position of having a name that is recognised and highly regarded by Caribbean people, the world over. This company enjoys a solid reputation—of over 80 years standing—for providing consumers with quality products and services; for reliability, honesty and integrity in the way we do business; and for our we care philosophy in relation to the Caribbean community and all members of the Grace, Kennedy family.

The symbol that has been most closely associated with our company is the Grace ellipse with the crown. This is in fact the logo for our food brands. And as proud as we are of the reputation for excellence enjoyed by Grace Foods, today there is so much more to Grace, Kennedy than food.

Grace, Kennedy has grown to embrace financial services, hardware and agricultural supplies, information and communication services, airline and industrial catering, motor car sales and servicing and much, much more.

While many people are aware of our growth, there are still those who do not have a clear sense as to the depth of the organisation and the breadth of our vision. We feel that it is time to signal to all our stakeholders of the increasing diversity and future direction of the Grace, Kennedy Group.

Our mission is to satisfy the unmet needs of Caribbean people herever they may be in the world through the timely delivery of products and services of the highest quality.

So, as we pursue this mission of satisfying the unmet needs of Caribbean people wherever they live in the world we have used elements of the familiar Grace foods brand to create a strong new corporate image

• by retaining the crown which symbolises the fact that “the customer is king and wears the crown”; and
• by retaining the familiar and well loved red and black colours that have been associated with the company for many decades.

With this new corporate logo, we have at once recognised a distinguished heritage and put it in a forward-looking context that is now GraceKennedy.

It is one thing to formulate the strategy, which this mission statement reflects. But it is something else entirely to communicate it. By defining this new brand image we are going beyond the logic of the mission statement to make an emotional, visual connection.

Our new corporate logo is the singular expression of GraceKennedy’s essence, our purpose, position and personality. It is provides an identity for our consumers who trust us to consistently provide quality goods and services whether it may be a bottle of Grace Tropical Rhythms or an insurance policy from Jamaica International Insurance Company Limited.

Our new corporate logo is emotional glue for our employees signalling that as we work individually and together we are a part of the GraceKennedy family.

Our new corporate logo is the calling card for our corporate ambassadors, providing them with the credentials they need as they seek opportunities across the globe.

It is with pride and humility that we continue to build on the foundation set across 83 years to broaden the scope and markets of our company to make it the world’s premier Caribbean company.

Delivered at the launch of the new Grace, Kennedy Logo - February 14, 2005

Posted: February 15, 2007