The founder of PA Benjamin, a household name in Jamaica for pharmaceuticals such as bay rum and condiments such as vanilla, Percival Austin (PA) Benjamin was born in St. Mary in 1862. A young entrepreneur, he started "Benjamins' Jamaica Healing Oil Factory" in 1879 with a large array of his own bottled preparations and teas, concocted through the young apothecary's knowledge of medicine. Unfortunately, he had funding problems and had to close the factory due bankruptcy. Determined as ever he took a job as Manager of a drug & grocery store in Port Maria, eventually buying out the pharmaceutical side of the business and starting again this time as Benjamin's Jamaica Medicines. He moved the factory and business to Kingston in 1901 and continued to expand. The savvy young businessman soon recognised the marketing potential of making his products available to Jamaicans abroad and, in a stroke of marketing genius set out to acquire customers, among them Jamaicans at work on the construction of the Panama Canal. Benjamins’ aggressive salesmanship led to the infiltration of markets throughout the Caribbean, markets which the company has managed to retain and systematically expand upon. Tragedy struck again with the 1907 earthquake and fire, but he built back better and continued to expand and improve. In 1926, his flagship brand, Jamaica Healing Oil became the first Jamaican product to obtain a US patent. Although Mr. PA Benjamin died in 1928 - the company, PA Benjamin is now the oldest drug manufacturing company in Jamaica, making Mr. Percival A Benjamin one of Jamaica's Science Icons.
Mr. Percival A. Benjamin
Biotechnology
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Jamaica
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