Caribbean brewers gather in Guyana for technical sessions
THE 2011 technical sessions of the Caribbean Breweries Association (CBA) kicked off yesterday at Banks D’Aguiar’s Industries & Holdings (Banks DIH), Thirst Park, Ruimveldt, Georgetown. Involving local and overseas participants, with the aim to share technologies and ideas that could result in better end products, the programme will conclude today with a dinner, at OMG Sports Bar, on Sheriff Street, also in the city.
Those participating will hold discussions not only on the production of beer but strategies to minimise the abuse of alcohol across the region.
Communications Manager of Banks DIH, Mr. Troy Peters told the media it is a meeting of technical officers, from breweries in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, among other countries, who get together and exchange ideas.
He said the delegates would be allowed to taste some of the Banks DIH products and tour the complex as part of the agenda.
Yesterday they talked about distribution techniques and the impacts on sales; factors affecting bottling line efficiency and methods of improving equipment reliability; efficient use of utilities in a brewery and yeast management and sanitation.
Today’s forum would include such topics as ISO 22,000 and its impact on manufacturing and sensory science, a practical sensory session and the brewery tour.
The CBA is a grouping of breweries in the Caribbean and multinational brewing companies with operations in the region.
The brewing industry has existed in Member States of CARICOM for more than 90 years, the oldest being Desnoes & Geddes (Red Stripe) Brewery, in Jamaica, established 1918 and the most recent is The Cayman Islands Brewery which began operations in 2006.
There are 17 full members, six in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, Antigua & Barbuda, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Dominica and St. Kitts/Nevis; two in the Less Development Countries (LDCs) of Belize and Haiti; six in the More Developed Countries (MDCs) of Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana and Suriname; two in the Dominican Republic, included in the wider trading bloc of CARIFORUM and one in the Cayman Islands.
The three associate members are Diageo, Heineken and Royal Unibrew.
The CBA was formed in 1990 and the strategies of the Caribbean brewers were combined to provide consistency across the region.