Barbados offered technical help for white sugar production

B arbados has an opportunity to attract investment in refined or white sugar production to meet strong regional demand, with producers in Belize offering technical support to help develop the industry, top regional industry figures said on Thursday. The extent of the domestic industry’s interest in producing refined sugar, the preferred product in beverage industries and bakeries, could not be immediately ascertained as the region’s sugar producers met here. Mac McLachlan – Chairman of the Sugar Association of the Caribbean. (Photo by: Emmanuel Joseph) Mac McLachlan, chairman of the Sugar Association of the Caribbean (SAC), said investors were already eager to invest in white sugar production in the Caribbean, historically renowned for brown or Demerara sugar.

The Belizean sugar-maker, which has begun producing refined sugar, said it was ready to provide technical assistance to improve Barbados’s industry. At the 178th meeting of SAC’s board of directors at the Radisson Aquatica Resort, McLachlan told reporters that Belize was already benefiting from an investment in white sugar production. He said: “I think there is great incentive for all sugar-producing countries to improve their added value offer in the region. And that’s because the region does actually protect its sugar through the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the Common External Tariff (CET). “That’s been the driver for the investment that’s been taking place in Belize in a refinery to produce refined white sugar to a very high quality. It may be that others will follow suit in time, but there is a great demand in the CARICOM region for white and brown sugar. “There is a lot more opportunity now for investment opportunities that could lead to realistic, profitable, viable outcomes for each of the sugar producing…