Following a setback due to the global pandemic, the $4 billion Tropical Orchard Products Company (TOPCO) being spearheaded by the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) is set to take off early next year, giving farmers a market for large quantities of cherries, guava and other fruit produce.
DDL, the parent company, hopes to complete the new TOPCO plant by December and start production by the first quarter of next year.
With a plan that will see a demand for nearly two million pounds of various local fruits per annum from farmers when it begins production next year, both DDL and the Ministry of Agriculture see the initiative providing significant revenue for farmers and decreasing unemployment as it boosts entrepreneurship.
“COVID has delayed the project, both from the point of construction as well as overseas technicians coming in to install the equipment. The airport was closed for quite some time and they could not get in. We finally had to make a decision to make arrangements for them to come into the country in late August,” DDL Chief Executive Officer Komal Samaroo told the Sunday Stabroek in an interview.
“Work is progressing and we expect that installation of equipment and the completion of the building would be completed by the end of this year, and by the first quarter of next year, we will be doing the official commissioning and testing of the equipment. So we expect to be in commercial production by the end of the first quarter of next year; that is 2021,” he added.
In late 2019, DDL had announced the project, through a press release, following a tour with representatives of several relevant government ministries and agencies. They included the Ministries of Agriculture, Finance and Education, along with the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), the University of Guyana (UG), the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) and the Carnegie School of Home Economics.
Samaroo explained that the main components of the expansion project are the installation of a one-tonne per hour fruit processing line and of a 1L Tetra Pak Juice and Milk packaging line, which he said is being constructed at DDL’s Diamond facility.
TOPCO will require a combined total of almost 2 million pounds of cherries, carambola, guava and passion fruit when the company starts production next year and this quantity is a major increase from the 357,281 pounds supplied so far for 2019, representing an increase of 444 per cent.
The DDL Executive Chairman echoed most of what was said last year about the project as he pointed out that farmers will benefit from the venture through a guarantee that their supply of fruits to TOPCO is secure, with stability of prices in spite of market demand/supply conditions, as well as the potential to increase their cultivation of target fruits.
Good opportunity
“I think this is a good opportunity for people who have fruit farms to expand their cultivation in terms of cherries, passion fruit, guava, pineapples and carambola or five fingers. This is what we buy at the moment. As we extend our capacity, we will look at other fruits we can use,” Samaroo said.
“This initiative will provide them with a ready market, a reliable market for their fruits and we have an arrangement with the farmers that within 48 hours their money is there, paid into their bank account so they have a reliable source of revenue to run their for their business,” he added.
Another expected benefit for farmers is the ability to collaborate with a network of technical and financial agriculture-support agencies, as part of what the company says is the holistic market-driven approach to developing partnerships with local fruits and dairy farmers.
With support from the Ministry of Agriculture and NAREI, local farmers will be guided through the process as the MoA acts as an interlocutor with the company so that they can produce the quality products needed and be paid competitive prices.
Minister of Agriculture Zulfikar Mustapha told this newspaper that his ministry received notice of the project from DDL requesting that they work together, as it explained that NAREI will supply the farmers with the plants and guide and support farmers through the process.
“I received a letter from Mr. Samaroo on the project and will be meeting him soon to discuss how we can work together because this will be beneficial for us getting markets for local farmers… We are talking to them to look at the price to help the farmers,” he said.
Mustapha said that a main component for support will be ensuring farmers are paid at competitive prices and providing a means so that those persons farming in far-flung areas are not “left out”.
Transport
“One of the requirements was that they wanted the farmers to transport the fruits. However, you have to understand that sometimes the logistics just won’t permit that. A lot of the fruit farmers are located distances away and we also have to look at opportunity for all of them. So we have to find a way; to say for example, get the farmer from Black Bush Polder’s fruit or the Highway to the factory the same way the farmer from Parika’s fruit is getting there. Transport is expensive so that has to be worked out,” the Agriculture Minister explained.
“I cannot also emphasise the price paid for their produce. DDL will be buying the fruit by the pound. In the case of passion fruit, for example, it is the pulp alone. So they won’t pay for the whole fruit. The farmer has to scoop the pulp out. If they are paying for 10,000 lbs of passion fruit, it means 10,000 lbs of passion fruit pulp. How do you ensure the farmer is paid adequately in circumstances like those, is where the Ministry and NAREI will be providing support, for example,” he added.
And as he lauded the private sector initiative, Mustapha said that government will also use the project to attract other persons here to get into farming.
He said that government will be exploring ways of getting small farmers access to lands, through interagency support with the Lands and Surveys Commission so as to open up more areas for farming.
“We are looking at a holistic developmental approach and getting the Grow and Buy Local initiative going. So the government will have inter-agency support; say through the Office of the President to get the Lands Commission to open up areas and have lands available. All the MMA and Black Bush Polder areas, for example, opened up because, like I said, we are getting this thing going,” he said.
DDL’s CEO and Executive Chairman said that the company was already purchasing fruits and storing so that by the time of production next year, it would have enough to start the process and build on it as it progresses.
“We are already storing some fruit and are reaching out to more farmers to produce, so as to meet the demand for our growing requirements,” Samaroo said.
And given that the products produced will have United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification, DDL is hoping to soon after its local launch and expanded markets here, to tap into exporting its products.
“We are hoping to develop an export market with products coming out of this line. The line will be FDA certified so we will guarantee our international customers an excellent quality product. And as the market develops, there will be more opportunities or additional farmers. We see this growing expanding and making the impact. We have a domestic market and we intend to develop a regional and international market. So we start in the Caribbean and take our product further afield,” Samaroo said.
