Those of us who listened to the final half-hour of 90MINUTES today on Rsl Saint Lucia would have heard a scientist from the Red Stripe brewery in Jamaica speak of how they are moving to utilize a greater quantity of local ingredients such as cassava (manioc) to brew the beer in place of the imported (and non-indigenous) barley. To this end, Red Stripe has acquired hundreds of acres of land on which it is/will grow multiple varieties of cassava for its initial stage of that project. After this, the company expects to co-opt hundreds, maybe thousands, of Jamaican farmers and even more vast acreages to meet its anticipated demand. The benefits of import substitution, foreign exchange conservation, employment stimulation, agricultural sector revitalization are potentially limitless. Do we see the possibility of similar (and badly needed) opportunities being created for Saint Lucia? Can the Heineken/Piton beer brewery here be persuaded to try/undertake such a project? In addition to cassava/manioc replacing barley as the starch, can we try locally grown bitter melon (Kuryla; Kareli; Kokom Coolie) as the bittering agent instead of the imported hops (European origin)? Eagerly awaiting your views.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 16:33:12 +0000
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