Rum producers rise to environmental challenge

Caribbean rum producers are better able to respond to environmental challenges and improve the quality of their products, following a recently concluded seminar, hosted by the West Indies Rum & Spirits Producers’ Association Inc. (WIRSPA). The two-day seminar, held at The Grand Barbados Hotel and attended by 45 participants representing some 19 Cariforum rum and spirit companies, provided participants with technological solutions relating to the problems of Water and Wastewater Treatment and Yeast and Fermentation. Environmental expert, Ian Lambart of the United Kingdom, explained to rum producers how they can help preserve the environment by improving the management and disposal of wastewater in an environmentally friendly manner.  Lambart, previously environmental manager to one of the largest drinks manufacturers in the world, revealed some of the latest insights on waste disposal and water treatment management. The pollution control specialist, with 28 years experience, advised participants on best practice methods of disposing of wastewater. These solutions included developing safe sea disposal routes, land irrigation, lagoons, reed beds, composting, anaerobic digestion, concentrated molasses and membrane filtration. Internationally renowned biochemist, Dr. Inge Russell, a professor at the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department, of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, shared valuable information with participants about the use of yeast and its relationship to fermentation.  Effective fermentation is important for the production of consistent high quality product and a major concern for regional rum producers.

The Canadian academic, who is a leading expert on yeast biotechnology, also examined advances in the area of biotechnology and how this might impact on the rum and spirits industry. The seminar was attended by managers and other officials responsible for production, fermentation, distillation, chemical analysis and quality control from companies in Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. The seminar, part of a series being organised by WIRSPA, was funded out of a 70 million programme of support for the Caribbean rum sector, managed by WIRSPA on behalf of CARIFORUM and funded by the European Union.  The programme aims to enhance the competitiveness and profitability of the Caribbean ACP rum sector, promoting not only the survival of the industry, but also its healthy growth through market gains, primarily in Europe. WIRSPA is an association of national rum associations from many Caribbean Countries. It actively promotes and protects the interests of its members in the distilling, exporting and marketing of rum and locally produced spirits.