Local eggnog in time for Xmas
One of several new dairy products
Stabroek News
November 18, 2003
A range of 16 new dairy products, including eggnog, all produced from local milk will be available in retail outlets in time for the Christmas season.
The products, sold under the 'Good Morning' brand, will soon feature prominently at supermarkets including C&F Meat Centre and Bounty Meat Centre.
The 16 products include flavoured yoghurts, flavoured and plain pasteurised milk; cheeses, flavoured dips, sour cream and eggnog and were launched yesterday at St Stanislaus College dairy farm in Bel Air.
The $8 million unit, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is geared at processing approximately 12,000 gallons of milk per day most of which is being supplied by the St Stanislaus dairy farm.
Efforts to receive additional supplies from external dairy farmers will soon be implemented as demand for the products increases.
Head of the Guyana Dairy Development Project (GDDP), Dr Hector Munoz, outlining the establishment of the Dairy Products Unit (DPU), identified the need to add value to the raw milk supplies to increase profits.
According to Munoz, the idea of adding value to the raw milk was developed after considering increasing the farm's stock of dairy animals and the price for fresh raw milk both of which were not possible.
According to Munoz, the plant, with a capacity to process and transform 2500 litres of milk per day into the range of dairy products, was acquired and installed at the St Stanislaus farm.
Among the components associated with the plant are a cream separator, pasteuriser, high-speed blender, filling machine, cooling facilities and laboratory equipment.
Current production of milk stands at some 5.4 million litres per annum which is 50% of the required amount to satisfy local demands, said Agriculture Minister Satyadeow Sawh.
Among the other speakers were US Ambassador Roland Bullen and President of the Partners of Americas Guyana/Mississippi Chapter, Vanessa Benn, who outlined the role played by the organisation in facilitating the project.
Cariforum Agribusiness Research and Training Fund (CARTF) Representative, Hilton Ford, and Director of CARESDA, Dr PI Gomes highlighted the contributions of their entities.
The event was also attended by a group of ten students from Alcorn State University in Mississippi, USA who are visiting Guyana to get firsthand knowledge of the local agriculture sector.