Reap the sweets

A Government Minister says that Barbados can earn needed foreign exchange from its rum industry.

“I have said that we, as a country, in order for us to grow and restructure and rebuild our economy, what we have to do is to look at ways to earn foreign currency through what we already do well. The time has come where we must show that rum can give us that competitive edge in a global environment where we need to differentiate Barbados and earn foreign currency,” the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Indar Weir said.

He was delivering brief remarks as the Mount Gay Rum Distillery celebrated Trudiann Grosvenor as the first female Master Blender at their Master Blender Ceremony at their Rum Distillery in St Lucy.

The MP for St Philip South called on Barbadians to invest in a renewable energy plant which will use waste matter from sugar cane and turn it into biomass energy; this, he said should be ready by June 2019.

“I give all Barbadians from all walks of life an opportunity to be investors by the way of purchasing shares in a renewable energy plant which takes us from the beginning right through to the end… from sugar cane [waste matter] to produce biomass energy. That is a process that has already begun. Hopefully, by June this year regular Barbadians would have a chance to buy shares into what is rightfully ours,” he said.

First female Master Blender Trudiann Grovesnor said she was honoured and proud to be chosen as the successor for Jerry Edwards and Allen Smith.

“My journey at Mount Gay has been one of growth and trust which has allowed me to learn, evolve, perfect my expertise and continue the craft of rum making. With Allen I learned the tremendous know-how which allows us to create one of the best rums in the world every day. This is knowledge that he himself learned from Jerry Edwards. I thank them for having preserved the fundamentals of expertise of our unique, aromatic style,” Grosvenor said.

She added that she was thrilled to be a part of the history of Mount Gay Rum Distilleries.

“This lineage is incredible because it has lasted longer than 300 years without interruption. I am very proud to humbly join it to make Mount Gay progress, to create new treasures, to expand our rums and to invent new blends. I would like to thank Raphael Grisoni [Managing Director of Mount Gay Rum Distilleries] and the Mount Gay Family for their confidence in me,” she said. (LG)