Dart buys piece of Cayman Islands Brewery

| 22/07/2019 | 175 Comments
Cayman News Service
Some of the popular beers from CIB

(CNS): The islands’ largest investor has bought a piece of the Cayman Islands Brewery (CIB), officials have confirmed. Cayman Distributors Group, which is one of Dart’s network of companies, has invested an undisclosed amount into the local brewery that makes the popular local beer Caybrew, among other brands. The acquisition by Dart’s booze operation adds to its chain of liquor stores and wholesaler. However, the company is keeping the size of its share under wraps.

In a press statement, CDG CEO Matthew Bishop said the brewery had much potential.

“The Cayman Islands Brewery can be extremely proud of what they’ve achieved,” he said. “They’ve had to fight for every inch of market share against a host of well established and well funded imported brands. The fact that Caybrew is now firmly entrenched as the national beer of the Cayman Islands is testament to the quality of their products, the dedication of their employees and, of course, the loyalty of their customers.”

He added that the brewery stood out for its commitment to the community, sustainable manufacturing and high-quality products. Bishop said there were significant opportunities for future growth, both for the business and its brands.

“We aim to build on the success of the brewery and help the business to grow even further,” he said. “We see a huge amount of potential in this company and we look forward to being a part of its future.”

Founder and Chairman of the CIB Board of Directors Stephen Webster said CDG’s involvement will benefit the brewery. “Over the last decade we have built a truly special business and we hope this will take the company into the next phase of its growth. We are confident there is a very bright future for the brewery.”

Since its founding, the brewery has grown from a start-up to a major player in the local beer market. Located in Prospect, the brewery produces a range of core beer brands, including the popular Caybrew and award-winning White Tip Lager, in addition to an ever-changing roster of seasonal specialty brews.

Webster said daily operations would not be impacted by the acquisition of a share of the brewery and the leadership team would remain unchanged.

“We see this investment both as affirmation of all we have achieved over the past 12 years and as a welcome opportunity for even further growth,” he added.

The brewery recently invested $1 million in an upgrade and expansion, including a new warehouse, two new tanks and a barroom, as demand for its range of beers grows from tourists and locals alike.

The investment in the brewery comes just after Dart announced that it had purchased the Comfort Suites hotel, securing the group’s ever-growing grip on the Seven Mile Beach area. Dart already owns a vast amount of land and other commercial assets on all three islands and now controls the bulk of the wholesale and retail liquor market.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    I wonder when CNS will report that Dart has recently just donated a bunch of prime real estate to the humane society.

    CNS: You’re right, we should follow up. I’ll see what happened to that story.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Hey everybody. Dart just donated some of his prime real estate. Be sure to thank him by drinking some of his beer and eating something out of one of his white squeaky container.

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  2. Anonymous says:

    When will Caymanians stop selling out to Dart? Do u realise that your children will all be working for the same person in 10 years at this rate. There will be no competition or free market then.

    What is Govt or the UK doing about the anti-Trust legislation?

    After he owns 70% of the economy, what will politicians do then?

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  3. Anonymous says:

    What am I missing here? There seems to be a group of people commenting that are idolizing Dart… because he has money?
    Now I know a lot of you drink, but look at it like this. Alcohol is a drug. It’s like heroin, meth etc. You use it because you’re not comfortable in your own skin. It allows you to do things that you’re not otherwise comfortable doing. It’s addicting. It tears apart families. It’s crap, and Mr. Dart is a dealer.
    He’s made money by selling something that’s the just plain bad for the environment. It’s like pissing in your well, but he’s pissing in my well.
    So despite these issues, there are people here that idolize him?
    Like I said, I just don’t get it. Humans are meant to be wiser than this.
    Why is he looked up to. How much misery does this world need before lame ass opiates are seen as the cause of bad things, not the solution?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yes. Let’s ban alcohol since it’s a drug. Of course, we’ll lose 90 percent of our tourists, since it’s a proven fact that tourists like to do the drug of alcohol on vacation and they won’t want to come to a dry country to vacation. But don’t worry, we have the financial services industry. But wait – those drug addicts, I mean professionals, are all hooked on alcohol, too, so they will leave. What’s the use of making millions of dollars in salary if you can’t spend it on alcohol? At least we can go turtling and fishing for a living. But wait – we killed almost all of the turtles and we have to buy most of our fish from Honduras. And most fisherman like to do drugs, I mean drink alcohol while fishing, so they will leave, too. I guess we’ll all have to move to Honduras to make a living so that you can live you high and mighty wise life on your drug-free, Dart-free island in the comfort of your nice, air-conditioned home. You got yours; why should anyone else get there’s, especially when they are at odds with your moral rectitude, right?

      • Anonymous says:

        Well, that escalated quickly. I see that went right over your head. Go have a drink and tell me how it improved your life and how happy it makes you.

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        • Anonymous says:

          SO HAPPY! Don’t be mad at those of us that can control our booze intake.

        • Anonymous says:

          You remind me of the Church Lady on SNL. I’ll tell you what: You can live the judgmental life you want to live and I’ll live the carefree life I want to live. Maybe we’ll meet in the afterlife. Maybe we won’t. But can you please spare us the sanctimonious drivel?

          • Anonymous says:

            Ok, relax. No one is going to take your binky away. I just asked why people idolize a guy that sells intoxicants and trashes the environment. I’m beginning to see why you like the booze selling part. Apparently the world would cease without a way to hide from it.
            How about the environmental issue?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Umm, you’re not really addressing the posters point.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Thank you for pointing out how addictive alcohol is. Carry on.
        Also, the OP was just asking why a dealer, well water pisser, like Dart was admired. No one said anything about taking your god liqueur away from you.
        Calm Down.

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        • Anonymous says:

          God liqueur? Is that like nectar of the gods? And what if I’m not into that sweet, pansy-ass stuff? Can I have some god liquor instead? Or wine?

          • Anonymous says:

            Whatever it takes, you’ll find a way. Cooking sherry and stern-o are a couple of good back ups.

    • Anonymous says:

      8:20 do you know of the first miracle!

      • Anonymous says:

        Hallelujah! No I don’t. But I don’t really believe in miracles so I’m not a good person to ask.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Posters need to go back to school and read their economics textbooks. This is very far from a Monopoly.

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    • Anonymous says:

      anti dart folks…never had much time for textbooks.

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      • Anonymous says:

        I did. Let’s talk bubba.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Ok… Let’s talk. What’s your definition of a monopoly?

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          • Anonymous says:

            Are we going to discuss semantics, because quite frankly I’m not up to it. Anything else you’d like to discuss?

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            • Anonymous says:

              You’re the one who wanted to talk, bubba!

              • Anonymous says:

                Okay. What is the underlying data you used to determine that anti dart folks…never had much time for textbooks? Or did you just say some shit.

                • Anonymous says:

                  Actually, I didn’t say any shit at all. The anti-dart folks comment wasn’t mine, but I did have an issue with referring to the sale of alcohol here as a Dart “monopoly” because it’s far from it. Isn’t that what the initial comment made in this thread was about?

  5. Anonymous says:

    I don’t always buy breweries, but when I do, I prefer Caybrew.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    yet politicians saying nothing?????yet caymanians gonna vote the same crowd into LA…in 2021… 😴😴😴😴

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    • Anonymous says:

      But they are saying something: “Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We’re the best! Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

  7. Anon says:

    There are no competition laws here and in this case there are competitors. But the scary part is the way pressure is apparently exerted on Dart property tenants to purchase from Dart entities. Fair enough you may say, but with such dominant control of the hotel and restaurant sector this makes it very hard for other mostly local vendors to compete and survive. Watch what happens with CIB beers. This is not healthy.

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  8. Bertie : B says:

    The problems aren’t with Dart right now , they come After Dart , the man isn’t a spring chicken , although I do Not wish anything bad coming his way , nobody lives forever .

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    • Ron the Observer says:

      This is exactly the point here… Dart has unequivocally created enviable value in the Cayman Islands and created culturally iconic developments… But with great ownership comes great responsibility…with this much influence, let’s say Dart decides to sell all to some Private Equity fund that doesn’t have Cayman’s greatest interest at heart? There should generally be some government influence as it relates to how much one entity group can purchase to ensure the market is fair…

      Not saying this analysis hasn’t been done, but gov’t is doing a crap job in suggesting whether it has been done.so therefore one must reasonably speculate about the undue influence this group can conjure by the mere mass of companies and properties owned across the islands… why can’t we attract more great developers like Dart?…And why is it that so many Caymanian developers stick to developing for profit only with very little consideration for cultural significance… questions we should be asking.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Yes, he has created value in the Cayman Islands, but for himself. It hasn’t been for Caymanians. He isn’t called the Vulture Capitalist for nothing!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Mmmmmm…. spring chicken. Love it jerked with a little festival on the side.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Caybrew light has less carbs than michelob ultra light. So basically we brew the best light beer in the world! This is important for the keto people out there that like beer.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Dam that Dart organization. Building parks in every district. Redoing roads. Creating thousands of good paying jobs. Providing a world class school for kids. Building an alternative to the overcrowded cruise ship hell which is GT. Giving away scholarships.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Donating land for the new SPCA home, donating land for the new rugby pitch.

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    • WhaYaSay! says:

      Nothing is “free”! Wait until we truly have private beaches etc (it is coming). You may be new here or too young to know BUT the original plan for Camana Bay was for the entire complex to be gated (when it was initially proposed 20 or so years ago). All of his “giving” is PR to keep the natives from becoming too restless.

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      • Anonymous says:

        So he is investing over $2 billion to secure a private beach. Yup, that makes sense. Especially when he could get one anywhere in the region for pennies. Maybe, just maybe this isn’t a big conspiracy some like to make it out to be.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Selling the world’s most abused drug, flooding the environment with his beautiful product…..

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    • Anonymous says:

      And your point is? He’s not giving it out for free. He buys favour, he drops a few crumbs for the commoners. More smoke and mirrors to distract from his master plan, total domination of Cayman. Sorry, but you either need to get back to your concrete jungle overseas or refrain from campaigning about his so called benevolence.

      Eyes are opening up and inevitably, if you do as he has tried to do in other jurisdictions he will be the proverbial Dartboard.

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      • Anonymous says:

        master plan??? fake news and conspiracy nonsense rules the the day for some….zzzzzz

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        • Anonymous says:

          Please stop using that ridiculous phrase.

          • Anonymous says:

            Out of curiosity, are you referring to “fake news” or “zzzzzz”? I kind of like the “zzzzzz” myself, but if you’re referring to “fake news” then I’m in 100% agreement.

            • Anonymous says:

              Though I’m not a big fan of ’zzzzzzzz’, it’s that stoopud ‘fake news’ phrase to which I refer.

  11. Anonymous says:

    When will it be enough?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Its the sad, sad thing for little rich kids. ‘You can never get enough of what you don’t really want’

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  12. Anonymous says:

    No more caybrew for me. Fug you, dart! It’s Heineken and Red Stripe for me!

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Was there ever a free market in Cayman? The islands were controlled by two families. How much have they invested back into the communities, including scholarships? How many Caymanians outside of the family-tree were able to make it to their board boards. I’m not saying that putting everything in the hands of one investor is a good thing but look at the full picture

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  14. Anonymous says:

    Don’t any of you business people or land owners blame Dart for your demise of this island. it’s you Caymanians that have put the wealth into his pocket…..no denying that! Not one of you had a gun held to your heads! No good crying over spilt milk now. Embrace what this company is doing for this island by means of employment for you and your children’s future. What’s done is done!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Why would I put my kid’s future in the hands of a man that sells the worlds most abused drug and made his big money polluting my environment. Why? What are you even thinking?

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      • Anonymous says:

        Good call. Send him to church instead ….

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        • Anonymous says:

          I certainly don’t recommend that! Sorry to hear that numbing yourself (by drinking or religion) are your only 2 ideas to for getting through life.
          Plus Christian teachings have played a pretty heavy role in in the destruction of our planet.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    If ya’ll had any souls you would sell that too.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    Dart in full gear. Wheels are off, what’s next? Poor Caymanians will all be employees of Dart.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    Total domination. Cayman is gone and sold out.

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  18. Anonymous says:

    Upstart Cayman19-81 brewery tonight is saying oh damn. Dart controls most of the liquor stores/ distributors, three large hotels, and has influence over restaurants/bars at Camana Bay.

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    • Anonymous says:

      19-81 is a far better ale than Caybrew.
      It’s style depth and taste is so far superior.
      Hope they can keep going and Dart Dosen’t try and destroy them

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    • Anonymous says:

      We now have a monopoly with liquor stores/distributors, bars/ restaurants and 3 big hotels. All prices related to beer and alcohol will be controlled by Dart which will result in higher prices for the Caymanian public and tourists. A lack of any sort of free market for alcohol and beer now exists.

      We no longer have any type of free market economy in the Cayman Islands.

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  19. Anonymous says:

    Keep up the good cause Mr. Dart, disregard the envious haters.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yes because monopolies and monopsonies always work out well for the average citizen.

      It is a well proven fact throughout history that monopolies and monopsonies result in increased costs for the consumer and deflated / stagnant wages for employees.

      Notice how property is more expensive… who has been buying most of the condos on Seven Mile Beach? Notice how the cost of hotel rooms has gone up significantly… and who has just bought one of the cheap hotels on 7Mile, expect prices to rise. Notice the disappearance of beach bars, notice the disappearance of access to the beach?

      In five years Dart will control all tourism in Cayman. He will control the supply of hotel / condo rooms to tourists. He will control the price paid to tourism related employees and thus be able constantly to keep their wages deflated. As the main purchaser on the island of food / beverages, he will be able to control the prices paid to local suppliers. Do you think he will pass on to the customer the savings he makes by forcing the suppliers to keep their prices low?

      The lack of competition on this island will result in social unrest. Ordinary Caymanians will forever be trapped in a hopeless downward spiral of low stagnant wages and rising property prices. It is already happening to a degree (look at increasing violence and robberies) and it will only get worse as Dart continues to monopolise all aspects of Cayman life.

      Onshore they say there are only two certainties in life – death and taxes. Well in Cayman we will have our version of the two certainties … death and paying Dart.

      Dart is a robber baron.

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      • Anonymous says:

        So well said 11:39. I reluctantly must agree with your perspective totally.

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      • Anonymous says:

        This was a great comment and had me 100% until you stated ” (look at increasing violence and robberies)”. This is absolutely 100% incorrect and untrue. Crime here has been escalating continuously over the past 25 years.
        Stick to the truth and the facts. Don’t blame our crime on Dart. Yet.

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      • Anonymous says:

        yer an idiot

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      • Anonymous says:

        You can’t be serious… you are going to blame Dart for local crime?

        Caybrew wasn’t even even a Cayman owned company…Following the Dart purchase there are still 5 or 6 local booze distributors. Doesn’t look like a monopoly to me…

        Same can’t be said for the cayman of old.. everything owned by one or two families.

        Get off your behind (like the guys at 19-81 and Seven Fathoms) and do something about the situation if you are so sure it’s going to lead to a moral decline in Cayman.

        Nah, it’s far easier blaming others/ pointing fingers than doing something positive.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Dart is not buying most of the condos on the beach. He owns around 15% of it, which is a long way from 100%.

        Secondly Dart does not run the hotels, he leases the buildings. With the exception of maybe Beach Suites.

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  20. Caymanian Donkey says:

    Well Caymanian is buying up the island. Couldn’t see that coming 25yrs ago.

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  21. Anonymous says:

    great news…a huge vote of confidence in caybrew from the countries largest investor. this guarantees the success of the brand for the next 50 years.

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    • Anonymous says:

      A huge vote of confidence for higher beer prices. No competition equals higher beer prices.

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      • anon1 says:

        Total rubbish.

        You fail to mention:

        • local brewer 19-81,
        • Seven Fathoms distillery,
        • Tortuga Wines and Spirits,
        • Premier Wines and Spirits
        • Jacque Scott.

        seems like ALOT of competition for a small island-unlike our electricity supply.

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  22. Anonymous says:

    just watching it happen…soooo sad!😢

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  23. Anonymous says:

    It is the part where Dart buys EVERYTHING not just some things…

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  24. Anonymous says:

    Perhaps the flavour will improve now.

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  25. A says:

    Is there nothing left on Cayman that Dart doesn’t have a piece of?

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  26. Anonymous says:

    I wanted to look up what was still safe to drink, now that I can’t drink White Tip. Unfortunately, I took a look at this page and realised that basically nothing is: http://www.caymandistributors.com/brands.php

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  27. Anonymous says:

    caybrew deserves all the credit it gets….great range of products.
    well done to all the expats involved.

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  28. Anonymous says:

    love my caybrew….now we juast need to stop some local establisments charging the equivalent US$10 for a pint of local beer.
    bad representation on the brand and cayman generally to tourists.

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    • Beer Belly says:

      Anon 2.44pm. Distributors of the other beers put pressure on the bars to keep it at the same level as the imported. This sale may help reduce the prices of the local. Love my White Tip.

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      • Anonymous says:

        that makes no sense

        • Beer Belly says:

          Lets just assume the local beer sold for $2.50- $3.00. The distributors of the imported beer would take a hit. Guaranteed.
          There are always going to be the regular Bud Light, Heineken drinkers, so the distributors say we cannot guarantee you your regular quota for your normal costs, if you sell the local for that price.
          Its a racket.
          Inside information 😉

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    • Caymanian drinker says:

      Do you pay, staff, electricity, health, pension, rent etc? You don’t know the cost of running a restaurant and bar in Cayman.
      As for the other comment about distributors put pressure on bars to keep the prices the same sorry your wrong.
      The Bar I visit is $4 $5 mix drink, pint 6\6.50 and shots $4\5 all free poured.

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    • Anonymous says:

      plus most of them sell a smaller 16oz scam pint…

      • 16oz Scam Pint says:

        I think I’ll call myself “16oz Scam Pint” from now on. It has a ring to it, even if it is a scam.

  29. Anonymous says:

    Let’s play MONOPOLY
    Gobble Gobble

    – looks like Dart needs another rich man to compete with him :))

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    • Anonymous says:

      When you play monopoly, there is this point where the winner is clear and the destruction of the remaining players is certain. Instead of a quick death, there is a slow languish until the winner has bled every cent from the others and the other players, mortgaged and indebted up to the hilt, are finally eliminated.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, don’t mention the part where CayBrew will rise to new levels, now that Dart is involved, and the new people that will be hired as a result.

      You might want to learn that the economy is not a giant bowl of money somewhere that rich people jump in and grab fists full of money before anyone else can.

      The economy is actually a phenomenon where people create and bring forth value from there efforts and monetary investments. So Dart buying things, is a good thing. not a bad thing.

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      • Anonymous says:

        So numb nut, why the heck things are so expensive when compared to other jurisdictions? You will be phenomenon real soon bro when you can’t buy “fe notthing mon”

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        • Anonymous says:

          Seriously? …have you ever considered that the high cost of booze has something to do with the enormous duties the cayman government charges. Cant blame expats for that Bobo.

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        • Anonymous says:

          7:44 if every thing is so expensive compared to other jurisdictions, can you come up with a ( sensible explanation ) of the influx of immigrants from other jurisdictions.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You fool. Dart is a robber baron. Caymanians will now have to pay the Dart tax throughout their lives. Dart will get richer while Caymanians get poorer.

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        • Anonymous says:

          hasn’t happened yet. dart has been nothing but a positive influence on cayman.

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        • anon says:

          stop ranting about Dart and listen to the facts.

          The members of parliament YOU elect set the rates of duty.CI government charges $1.95 per litre of beer. One six pack is 2.2 litres. That is $4.30 in tax for a 6 pack!!! that is before productions costs, distribution etc.

          Caybrew was never even locally owned (so all the profits went off island anyway). Again the CI government agreed to provide an exemption to the local ownership rules for the brewery.

          If you have issues you need to take them up with your local govt representative.

          Personally I am grateful for the money being pumped into the island by the Dart family. Isn’t it pretty evident from the scale and quality of the infrastructure they are putting in place they are in for the long haul- rather than sending profits off island.

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        • Anonymous says:

          blame your Daddy for not being rich not Dart!

      • Anonymous says:

        You might want to learn that a monopoly is not a free market. It results in higher prices for all and massive profits for the entity that has the monopoly.

        People CANNOT create and bring forth value in an economy that is a monopoly.
        Competition is completely stifled.

        3:15, You need to study some basic economics.

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        • Anonymous says:

          7.58am – please explain how it can be a monopoly when there are 7 or 8 alcohol producers/distributors on island? Same can’t be said for most other areas of Cayman economy which are dominated by a handful of elite local families.

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          • Anonymous says:

            Simple. The other producers and distributors are absolute minnows compared to Dart and the financial resources Dart has at their disposal. Everybody in the Cayman alcohol business knows that and when the right offer comes from Dart they will sell out too.

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            • Anonymous says:

              5:26 you sound so stupid blaming somebody for being Rich!

            • Anonymous says:

              Actually, Jacques Scott’s portfolio is probably superior to Dart’s in several ways, particularly in spirits and wines. Calling them a minnow shows you know nothing of the business.

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          • Anonymous says:

            And who sold Royal Palms to Dart?

      • Anonymous says:

        Dart has bots now?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Then it would become Hungry Hippos. Key being: once all the balls are gone, the game stops….

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