Now in her 27th year at the Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), analytical chemist Sharon Sue-Hang-Baksh has climbed the corporate ladder at the company, where she is now a board member with responsibility for technical services and holds the prestigious title of Master Blender.
Sue-Hang-Baksh, who started as a management trainee in 1995 after graduating from the University of Guyana (UG), is one of three women directors on DDL 10-member board of directors. “I know no other workplace. If I hadn’t liked my job, I wouldn’t have stayed this long. I practically grew up here, honing my skills and learning management practices from among the best on the job. And I have had many jobs in the company so that gave me a wide berth of experience.”
Sue-Hang-Baksh pursued a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a minor in biology from UG and graduated in 1994. She is also the holder of an Executive Master of Business Administration degree which she obtained from Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business, The University of the West Indies.
Born in New Amsterdam, she attended New Amsterdam Multi-lateral School where she completed the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate and the General Certificate of Education Advanced Levels.
“I was naturally good in the sciences. I liked chemistry because I liked the whole thing about creating new substances. I always thought in high school I would have done pharmaceutical chemistry.”
Once she had completed her programme at UG, she went back to New Amsterdam to spend the rest of the year with her family before getting into the world of work.
“During that time I applied to many places in search of a job. One of the places I got an offer from was from DDL. I’d told the human resources manager I would take the job in the new year if the opening was still available. Luckily it was available. They called me in December and told me to report for duty on the first Monday in January. That’s how I started my job with DDL and this is now my 27th year here.”
Sue-Hang-Baksh’s year-long management training programme involved being trained at DDL’s many manufacturing locations.
“When I started, there was an opening for a chemist at Uitvlugt. The chemist was migrating, I was earmarked to replace that person, so my training was fast-tracked. I was sent to Uitvlugt distillery on the West Coast Demerara for training and eventual takeover. At the time I was living at La Bonne Intention on the East Coast Demerara and commuting daily with public transportation, which was tiresome. I indicated to the human resources department that I could not continue with the hassles of the travel and if no other position was available, I could not stay.”
During that period, a vacancy for a quality assurance chemist opened up in the quality assurance department, then in High Street, Georgetown. She was offered the position and she accepted it. She spent five years becoming a quality assurance chemist. In 1998, the year she got married, she was promoted to quality assurance manager.
“In this position, I started growing in my career. As a chemist I did analytical work and testing the products the company produced. We make soft drinks, water, fruit juices and not only rums. As a chemist I tested the product, did evaluations, made sure the product tasted well, smelled well and then did the chemical analysis to make sure that the product was within specification. I would overlook other people’s work, the lab technicians. It was not me alone doing everything.”
After she was left in charge of the laboratory and the quality assurance department, she was part of the process and part of the team that won DDL, the ISO 9001 certification. DDL was the first company in Guyana to obtain ISO 9001 certification.
“We have still maintained, successfully, the standard from that time to now. Every time the standard is upgraded we have to upgrade as well. We have to revise our system to keep abreast with the revision of the standard. We have added other standards and certifications like HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) and good manufacturing practices. DDL has led the way in those certifications. Other companies have since come on board and with oil and gas you will have a lot of companies being certified.”
In 2001, on her return from maternity leave, she was appointed the plant manager of the company’s beverage production plant.
“Being production manager was kind of strange to me. The settings of a quality assurance department are different to the production plant settings. I had to manage more people and more sections in the production area from the floor level to the administrative and management levels. It was predominantly male in that environment but they supported and treated me with respect. It was a new and learning experience that helped to make me a better leader. For that plant I was the first female plant manager. We have a lot of workers now who are females and more female plant managers.”
During her tenure at the plant, Sue-Hang-Baksh overlook the production of a number of new products with some being in partnerships, including the franchise bottler of PepsiCo for which DDL made some different new products.
At that time, DDL also launched those ready-to-drink products on the low alcoholic side.
“During my time we introduced plastic bottles for beverages as an option to consumers. Traditionally, we used glass bottles and consumer were required to return bottles and leave deposits on them. We were responding to consumer demand for convenience. It increased our capacity and sales.”
She spent five years in beverage operations, overlooking the soft drinks and juices operations.
In 2007, she was transferred on promotion back to the quality assurance department with more responsibilities. This time she had to overlook product development and innovation, quality assurance and quality systems. “We had to innovate and come up with new ideas or improve on what we did.”
The department worked on more aged rums and launched the El Dorado 8 Year Old Fine Cask Aged Rum and other new products during that time. “I have line extensions. If I am doing a product I could add another product to it. As you know our El Dorado brand has won many international competitions. We are proud of it and I am proud of it because I am part of the team that worked on the products.”
Some of the rums were there before she came on board but she has had to ensure their consistency.
“Some we would have done afterwards like the El Dorado three-year old white rum. Traditionally you don’t have aged rums that is white. You have to do extra processing and extra filtrating to get the white colour. For example, aged rum picks up the amber or mahogany tones (brown colour) you see in the bottle during the aging process in the oak barrels.”
Demerara rums are a global product. “You go to Australia and New Zealand, you will find El Dorado. We are in 65 different countries. It is maybe the only product that touches so many countries across the world. People know our product and the brand and can relate to its quality.”
From 2007 to the present time, she has been in quality assurance but given additional responsibilities over time. “Every time I’m given more responsibilities, I put my best foot forward and give of my best.”
Master Blender
“I’m referred to as the master blender of Demerara rums. As master blender I have the responsibility to ensure the products are always consistent. It’s an organoleptic evaluation that I have to do. It means I am the chief taster. As tasters, we would let the product rest on the tongue to savour the taste to get all the profiles. I don’t get high. We don’t swallow after every sip.”
Asked how she became a master blender, Sue-Hang-Baksh said, “My skills in chemistry as an analytical person and my skills in sensory evaluation, smelling and tasting stuff. When there was an opening, I took on the role of master blender.”
She noted that people usually ask her if blending is a science or an art. “I usually say it is both a science and an art because you have to be scientific to understand how components mix together and what you have to do, and you have to have a good sense of taste and smell to ensure the product is in keeping with the specifications.”
She added, “I think I am naturally good with the smelling and tasting. I am always proud of the product when it does well and people enjoy it. It gives me a sense of pride and satisfaction that I’m doing something that makes sense to customers and consumers and people enjoy it both locally and internationally while contributing to the local economy in a big way.”
There are a few female master blenders around the world. In Guyana, Sue-Hang-Baksh is the only one. Whenever she tells people she is a master blender and what she does they ask if she has a vacancy or if she needs help to do the job.
“Because I’m in a technical field, I am on the floor a lot. A lot of women don’t like this job because you have to be on your feet a lot of the time. I’m always on the go at work and outside of work. I believe once you are busy, you don’t have time for idleness and you keep the brain active.”
She has also had it busy taking part in professional development studies like seminars and workshops to keep abreast with what is going on in the industry in terms of technical information and in business as well as meeting clients to educate them on the profiles of the products.
Her career mentors include the late DDL Chairman Dr Yesu Persaud, who she said she was fortunate to have worked under when she joined the company, current chairman Komal Samaroo and the late production director George Robinson, who was on the job when she joined the company. “Mr Robinson, he showed me a lot of stuff and I learned a lot from him,” she said.
Social work and charity
It is not all production, smelling and tasting for Sue-Hang-Baksh, she is also involved in corporate social responsibility and charity work. She has been the secretary of the DDL Foundation since it was established in 2010 as a charitable organisation. The foundation provides five-year scholarships to students who were among the top students who wrote the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and who need financial assistance to complete their secondary education.
“This scholarship is open to anyone. When the NGSA results are out, we put out an ad and ask for applicants. Right now we have a total of 28 students. We are proud of them and they make us proud. This is part of DDL’s corporate social responsibility.”
Apart from taking on the responsibilities of the foundation, Sue-Hang-Baksh in 2006 joined the Rotary Club of Stabroek as one of its charter members, aiding in its founding, because she wanted to give back to society and she felt she could not it by herself.
“Sixteen years later I am still a member. Within that 16 years I served as president twice and I also served in other positions, such as, club service director, membership director and foundation director.”
Over the past 16 years, she has taken in literacy projects involving youths including promoting literacy with the Buxton Youth Developers.
