A company which will import Polar beer legally was launched yesterday with plans to establish a US$15 million beer plant at Ruimzeigt, West Coast Demerara (WCD) for both local consumption and for export.
Vice President-Marketing of Polar Beer and Beverages Olive Gopaul said yesterday that the beer is being imported from Venezuela. Polar Beer and Beverages is a division of Fidelity Investment Inc, a subsidiary of Safeco Holdings.
Gopaul, a former Miss Guyana, said preparation of the site for the US$15 million plant at WCD is underway and construction will start soon. She said when it is finished some 300 persons would be directly employed. Another Vice-President of the company, Rajkumar Outar told Stabroek News that the plant would be finished early next year and apart from beer, malta would be manufactured both for local use and for export, primarily to Carib-bean markets.
Launching the beverage, along with two models dressed in blue, Gopaul promised “a whole different style of marketing” that would be “fascinating” and “will cause you to look again”. She said importation of the product, which is manufactured in Venezuela, would add no less than $1.2 billion in revenue to government coffers annually, an amount, she stated, the country would be deprived of should smuggling of the product continue unabated. She said that a large amount of Polar beer is smuggled into the country each year, evidence of which, she said could be seen by the interceptions made by law enforcement bodies. She expressed confidence that the legal importation of the beverage would put a dent in the illegal trade in the beer and other contraband activities and advised consumers on what to look for when buying the beer.
Displaying an example of the smuggled beer, Gopaul said it was produced solely for the domestic market in Venezuela. The difference is the can, which is light grey in colour. The legally imported beer comes in a blue can bearing the imprint “Imported”. She expressed confidence that the beer “would take its legal place in the Guyanese market for always” and urged consumers to bear in mind which beer is brought into the country illegally and which is not when purchasing same.
Additionally, apart from the canned beer which would be priced “slightly higher that our competitors”, bottled beer would be imported as well and though the bottles would contain the same amount, the price would be different.
Gopaul said the company is looking to saturate the market “very soon” and canned Malta is also expected to be imported shortly under the name of Maltin Polar. She added that systems would be put in place for the proper disposal of the cans.
Currently, Gopaul said, the company employs 120 persons and the importation of the beer would provide “an added choice of beer to the Guyanese public”. She asserted that as a newly formed division, the company would strive to satisfy the needs of consumers, distributors, workers and suppliers through the products and development of the businesses. She vowed that the company would guarantee the highest possible standard in quality, efficiency and competitiveness while contributing to development.
“This is an opportunity we want to take advantage of, to look beyond border controversies and strengthen relations between neighbouring countries,” she said.
