Hanschell Inniss

Hanschell and company was founded in 1884 to supply ships with ropes, sails, fresh meat, fruits and water. The company now produces and distributes food stuffs to supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, cruise ships as well as for export. Hanschell Inniss also distributes Cockspur Five Star Fine rum, Cockspur Old Gold rum, Cockspur VSOR, Hanschell Old Time Falernum, J&R White and J&R Gold. For approximately 124 years Hanschell Inniss Limited has been providing Barbadians with the finest selection of produce, foodstuff and other supplies. Founded in 1884 by Valdemar Hanschell, who was of Danish descent, the then Hanschell & Company supplied ships with ropes, sails, salt, fresh fruit, meat, vegetables and water in addition to any other items required. The Company also loaded the ships with Barbadian products destined for Europe and North America. While Ship Chandlery continued to be the primary business focus in the early 20th century, eventually the company branched into the local liquor market with Cockspur and Best Matured Rums. In addition, other well-known spirit brands were imported. In the late 1960s, the company diversified into food distribution with the amalgamation of James H. Inniss. Then in 1973, J.N. Goddard and Sons Ltd. (subsequently Goddard Enterprises Ltd.) bought a majority interest in the business, thus bringing Hanschell Inniss under the Goddard's umbrella. By the 1970s, a new rum-bottling plant was established and Hanschell Inniss was able to introduce additional quality liquor brands - Old Gold, VSOR, Cockspur White and 151 proof. As the international reputation of Cockspur grew, it attracted the interest of International Distillers & Vintners (IDV), which approached Hanschell in 1992 and subsequently an agreement was reached which allowed IDV to handle the worldwide distribution of the Cockspur brand. Having successfully entered the liquor and food distribution market, there remained one product line not represented - and that was meat. So in 1979, Hanschell Inniss became involved in meat processing. This proved so successful that a state-of-the-art processing plant was constructed and the Eve brand of products quickly became a household name. A decade later Atkinson and Wolfe, the leading meat and fish supplier, was purchased; thus ensuring the company had a comprehensive range of retail products. With more than a century of solid achievement, Hanschell Inniss has become one of the leading businesses in Barbados.