Walkerswood Factory Tour
7 miles south of Ocho Rios on A3

This guided tour is of special interest to anyone who would like to learn more about Jamaican foods or would just like to see the countryside outside Ocho Rios. Walkerswood produces popular jerk sauces, jams, pepper sauces, and more; this one-hour guided tour takes a look at the factory as well as the site's herb gardens, a recreated countrystyle home, and even includes a demonstration on making jerk marinade. The complex includes a restaurant and gift shop.

All About Walkerswood: If you’ve shopped for Jamaican food either on or off the island, you’re probably familiar with Walkerswood. This small community produces the popular Walkerswood Jerk Sauce, which spreads a taste of Jamaica throughout the world. Today if you’re traveling beyond Fern Gully, you’ll see this small community. The factory isn’t open to the public, but the efforts of this village can be found island-wide.

Thanks to the popular food purveyor, the tiny village exerts an influence far beyond the borders of St. Anne’s Parish. Established in 1978, the company was conceived as a project to provide employment to residents of the area located in the hilly countryside just inland from the north coast. Founder and Managing Director Johnny McFarlane recalls that initially “the company made fudge, then fish cakes to supply the nearby Jamaica Defense Force Base, as well as selling seasoned sausages and pork to local bars.” While these dishes proved popular, it was the seasoning with which they were prepared that really ignited the company’s success.

Walkerswood Jerk Sauce, made in the traditional way with hot peppers, scallions and spices, was originally sold in a market in Ocho Rios. It soon became popular not only with locals, but also with travelers who liked it so much that they raved to their neighbors. Letters (and sometimes money) began to pour in from customers desperate to replenish their supply of jerk sauce from afar.

In 1986, the company began exporting their Jerk Seasoning in earnest, opening a small sales office in Miami. Walkerswood’s first year of exports, says McFarlane, “were all of US $15,000,” but have since grown dramatically.

As sales have increased, so has the variety of Walkerswood products. In addition to traditional Jerk Seasoning, the company now produces and sells a host of other seasonings, sauces and condiments, all derived from traditional Jamaican recipes and using Jamaican-grown raw materials. Products such as Coconut Rundown Sauce, Escovitch Pickle Sauce, Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce, Solomon Gundy Fish Paste and Jonkanoo Pepper Sauce join an expanded array of jerk seasonings (Traditional Jerk Seasoning, Spicy Jerk Marinade, Dried Jerk Seasoning and Spicy Jerk Barbecue Sauce) to inflame palates around the world. Walkerswood Caribbean Foods now exports 80% of its total production, not only to the US, Canada, Western Europe and Japan, but to other Caribbean islands as well.

Although the company has grown, it remains very much a part of the Walkerswood community. The factory, located since 1978 on the grounds of the Bromley Great House in the village of Walkerswood, at present employs over 60 local residents. McFarlane notes that most of the ingredients are still grown locally as well. “We have our own scallion farm in the parish of St. Elizabeth, and have a supply contract with another large farm in the neighboring parish which supplies us with peppers, allspice, bananas and coconut. In addition, we have arrangements with dozens of small farmers in the Walkerswood area to supply peppers and tomatoes to our factory.”

For More Information:

• visit www.walkerswood.com