Mount Gay Distilleries Ltd. has re-entered the sugar production industry with a major investment in a mill at its St Lucy location.
At the same time, officials have announced the addition of a fifth ageing bond that will see the capacity going from roughly 50,000 barrels of rum to about 75,000.
Making the announcement on Wednesday during a tour of the refinery, Managing Director Raphaël Grisoni explained that while the focus of the sugar mill will be on the production of “high-value” molasses and less so on sugar, the investment, which forms part of a more than $40 million project over the past four years, was a signal of the company’s commitment to the rum industry and the island.
Mount Gay, which is now owned by the French company Rémy Countreau, exited the sugar-producing industry well over a century ago.
“Mount Gay, after decades and probably centuries, is back into the sugar industry and this is a big milestone for Mount Gay, but also for Barbados,” Grisoni told the gathering that included several government ministers, other rum producers, stakeholders and other especially invited guests.
The investment comes as Mount Gay joins forces with at least two other local rum producers in pursuing a geographical indication for Barbados rum.
Grisoni said Mount Gay producing its own molasses was critical to that process, while stressing that the investments will lead to added value.
“We also wanted to put our money where our mouth is and show the deep commitment that Mount Gay has in terms of investment in Barbados and investment which is leading to innovation and added value,” he said.
Disclosing that work on the sugar mill has been in the making for the past three years, Grisoni said “It means that at the end of the day we will have an organic molasses coming from us with different containers of sugarcane and we will have a beautiful organic sugar and both will be highly valued.”
The four tanks in the new sugar mill can store 84 tonnes of molasses.
Grisoni did not say how much sugar was likely to be produced from the new mill, but said he expected it to result in added value for Barbados sugar.
In relation to the new ageing bond, which is scheduled to be completed by December, Grisoni said this was also critical as a GI was being pursued.
“This time it is a bond and a rum cellar,” he said, of the roughly 2,500 square metre facility, which will house some 20,000 barrels of rum in the bond and up to 500 more barrels in the adjacent cellar.
“We want to continue to age in Barbados because it is part of who we are. To be called Barbados rum, we think you need all the process in Barbados,” he stressed.
“We believe in the future of Barbados rum, but we believe also in the future of Mount Gay rum. So all of that is to create additional added value and it will meet the future demand,” he added.
Grisoni disclosed that in addition to a joint solar farm investment with Williams Industries Inc., Mount Gay had other investment plans in the pipeline.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport Lisa Cummins, who joined the tour of the Mount Gay facility on Wednesday, said with the island being marketed as the birthplace of rum this investment in the industry was a welcomed one.
“This is going to add value to our product,” said Cummins, who only last Friday launched the annual 2022 Barbados Food and Rum Festival after a two-year hiatus.
She reiterated that Government was in the process of strengthening linkages between the bread and butter tourism industry and other sectors to ensure more locally-produced items are used in the tourism industry.
“One of the first things you will see in September of this year is the culmination, for the first time for Barbados, of a targeted provisioning framework for cruise ships and Barbadian producers, and rum is at the top of that list. So we want to make sure that anywhere in the world that you find a cruise ship by any of the major cruise lines, in any bar, in any restaurant, you will see the Barbados brand of rums,” said Cummins.
