Dear Editor,
I am happy for Demerara Rum, but I should like to add a few words on the generic dimension of Demerara Sugar to Carl Greenidge’s recent exposition on Geographical Indicators and Trademarks.
There are two main aspects of genericness: the composition and the process technology. Given the composition of the sugar cane, the technology allows us to choose what we keep in the sugar we extract. Keeping a certain amount of molasses via a certain process produces Demerara sugar. The origin of the name is geographical, but it became associated with the process technology and was so known to sugar technologists all over the sugar producing world. There were other such technologies, which were not trade secrets with blends as in rum making. Java sugar, made in Java, is another such example.
Customers got used to these sugars and developed tastes for them. So the flavour also became part of the genericness, but there was no definition. Standards followed, like those of the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis (ICUMSA).
Some years ago I correctly predicted that it would be difficult for GuySuCo to win its case against Bedessee for the designation of Demerara sugar, because, while the origin of the designation was geographical, it was attached to a technology of sugar processing and also became associated with a flavour and use of sugar. So other countries and companies can and do make this variety. A market survey of Demerara sugar around the world shows that in a given period, Columbia led the way with 362 shipments containing Demerara Sugar, Costa Rica 230, and Mauritius 206, while Guyana came in at 39 https://panjiva.com/Manufacturers-Of/demerara+sugar
Therefore I recommend GuySuCo concentrate on making our Demerara sugar in Berbice and do not waste energy on an unwinnable battle.
Yours faithfully,
Alfred Bhulai
