Demerara Distillers Limited on Friday announced that its TOPCO brand will be selling packaged milk later this month as the company seeks to expand its product line. Tropical Orchard Products Company Limited (TOPCO) is currently testing the production and packaging of reconstituted milk.
DDL and the LR Group of Israel are currently undertaking a feasibility study for the establishment of a commercially viable dairy farming operation designed to supply the TOPCO brand and examine the feasibility of transitioning to the pasteurization of fresh cows’ milk. The study and definition of the scope for the project is expected to finish in early 2022.
In a statement by the company on Friday, the company is also looking to establish a dairy farming operation that will include the participation of local dairy farmers. This was envisioned through a Memorandum of Understanding that was signed last June between the two companies.
The MOU includes the implementation of strategies to increase the supply of fruits and vegetables from local farmers through the provision of support services that promote best practices in crop selection, cultivation, disease control, harvesting, packaging and transportation to DDL’s TOPCO plant at Diamond. It also provides for jointly pursuing other commercially viable projects in Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) that fit into the development priorities of member states and the region’s efforts to reduce its food import bill and ensure food security.
“Mr. Joseph Harrosh, Director of the LR Group, is currently in Guyana and met with the Board of Directors and executive management of DDL headed by Chairman Komal Samaroo. The meeting viewed a presentation on the concept of the proposed project by Mr. Harrosh and a team of experts from Israel. A technical team from Israel will visit Guyana early next year to assess and make recommendations on land selection for the dairy farm and a structure for the participation of private farmers in the process. Thereafter, the feasibility study will be finalized,” the statement read.
The senior officials expressed satisfaction and said it would mutually beneficial to the investors and the Guyanese economy.
