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FM
Former Member

Multimillion-dollar milk plant for Onverwagt

–investor targets local milk import bill of US$35M

–says will eventually reverse Guyana’s role in the Caribbean dairy market, making it the supplier

Managing Director of the Amaya Milk Company, Omkaar Sharma, and CEO of Go-Invest, Dr. Peter Ramsaroop, hold what is expected to be a revolutionary product and huge boost to the local dairy industry (Adrian Narine photo)

CHANGING the game in the lucrative Caribbean dairy market is the ultimate aim of the Canada-based Amaya Milk Company, but, for now, the company will be making a revolutionary investment in the local market with the establishment of a multimillion-dollar milk processing plant at Onverwagt, in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice).

In a matter of months, Guyanese, instead of relying solely on foreign-made milk, would be able to crack open the seal of a freshly produced bottle of Mahaica Dairy Milk – the premier brand of the Amaya Milk Company. The path was cleared for the company to establish its base locally, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) among the Amaya Milk Company, the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest) and the Ministry of Agriculture.

According to information shared with the Sunday Chronicle, the MoU, which was signed on March 31, 2021, paves the way for the establishment of a milk plant to process, bottle and sell high quality pasteurised cow’s milk in the Guyana market. The company has wasted no time in further expressing its seriousness, as its Managing Director, Omkaar Sharma, has said that some CAN$450,000 (G$85 million) was expended already on equipment to outfit the milk pasteurisation facility, which will be constructed soon.

“We have so far invested CAN$450,000 on equipment which is packed on a boat and on its way to Guyana,” Sharma told the Sunday Chronicle in an invited comment.

The equipment, he said, is expected here by April 15, while more should arrive in Guyana by mid-May. Sharma explained that this project will be rolled out in two phases, with the first phase focusing specifically on the production of milk. For this phase, the company has budgeted CAN$500,000.

During the initial stage of the project, the company will be producing whole milk and two per cent milk, after which they will be making flavoured milk, specifically strawberry and chocolate, among other unique flavours.

Amaya Milk Company’s Mahaica Dairy Milk will soon hit the local market (Adrian Narine photo)

“At Amaya Milk Company, we will be producing fresh pasteurised milk in a state-of-the-art milk plant utilising cutting edge technology, along with stringent quality standards, so as to produce milk of an unmatched quality,” Sharma said.

Once the market is responsive, the company, in about two years, will move ahead with phase two of the project, for which CAN$1 million has been budgeted.

“We are not expecting that [phase two] until a year or two… the challenge we have now is we do not have enough milk to support a large facility, but as we get up on the supply side to feed the plant, it will be expanded,” Sharma reasoned.

Undoubtedly, the facility will not just create direct jobs, but will also give local cattle farmers the opportunity to sell their produce and even increase their production to satisfy the demand. Through a collective business effort, the facility will no doubt be able to meet consumer demand, the investor said, adding that it has always peeved him to see the local market being dominated by foreign-made products, when there is clearly great potential locally to produce the same items.

“I’ve worked on milk plants in Canada, the US and in the Caribbean region, and have always wanted to be able to put that knowledge and experience towards the development of the dairy industry in Guyana.

“It is wanting to provide nutritious milk, and while the initial target will be the local market, as we grow, we are eyeing the regional market and hopefully we could reverse the trend of us [Guyana] buying most of our dairy products… we could push yogurt, a little bit of cheese, paneer, cream, and we could start taking a little bit of that [to the Caribbean] market,” Sharma said.

In essence, bringing a local brand to the shelves of variety stores and the homes of thousands nationwide would not be the sole aim of the company, as there is a wider intention to reduce the country’s high milk import bill, which was last recorded at US$35 million per annum.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Office for Investment (Go-Invest), Peter Ramsaroop, has said that there is a ready-market for the Amaya Milk Company’s investment.

“That the Amaya Milk Company is seeking to establish its operations here in Guyana is indeed a pioneering move that is timely and relevant. This investment is precisely the kind we want to see coming from the diaspora.

“One of our aims at Go-Invest is to foster diaspora investment in agricultural value chains in small and medium sized agri-businesses. We at Go-Invest look forward to more investments from our Guyanese diaspora so that together we can build a prosperous Guyana,” Ramsaroop said.

While this investment is significant, the CEO said that there should be more investors in the sector.

“We are looking for investors in other parts of the country to expand this industry… the overall dairy industry is a lucrative market for investors and we expect to see a lot more like this in the near future,” Ramsaroop related.

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, in a past report, had said that a dairy plant would be a significant boost for local farmers since they have been lacking such technologies and facilities.

“The Ministry of Agriculture indeed takes pride to welcome such investments and encourages our local farmers to take full advantage of this kind of facility,” the agriculture minister said, adding that it would also increase Guyana’s exports.

For years, Guyana’s ‘potential’ to become the breadbasket of the Caribbean has been under the spotlight and while the rhetoric has outweighed action on this front, the country will be looking to realise its potential in the coming years, with immediate focus on tapping at least 15 per cent of the US$6 billion regional food import bill.

Most of the commodities, which form part of this huge bill, are sourced from the “developed world” while Guyana, a member state of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), has the potential to supply a sizeable amount of those commodities. It was reported that ten commodities – food preparations, wheat, rice, chicken, non-alcoholic beverages, maize, soya bean, sugar and palm oil — account for more than 40 per cent of CARICOM’s food import bill.

Immediately, based on this list, Guyana has the potential to supply rice, sugar and poultry, among many other things. And, there have already been attempts by government to create a business-friendly environment by removing Value Added Tax (VAT) on the poultry industry and removing VAT and duties on machinery and equipment for mining, forestry, agriculture and manufacturing.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

@Totaram posted:

I don't know if the milk company is connected to the restaurant.  I don't think so.   I have been to the restaurant.

Maybe Amaya Milk Company have recently registered in Canada.

Found their website https://amayamilk.co/   and fb page https://www.facebook.com/amaya...o/?ref=page_internal

Any way it's good investment ,Guyana need to reduce food imports ,produce locally.

Django
Last edited by Django

I've learned, the hard.way, that milk, which I loved to drink, is for babies.and growing children! I've been warned by my own body's.reactions now to milk!

Another thing, for you to scoff at, of course, is Jesus saying that he could rebuild the temple (his body) in 3 days! The body requires 3 days to recuperate from sex.or.exercise! The parable of the prodigal son is about the need to eat.beef.after sex! The older son was celibate! The key word is 'harlots'!

Fish, especially salmon or sardines.(the best for getting rid of too much cholesterol) shouldn't be used more than every 3 days (preferably after your beef day) or it will adversely affect your own organ that produces cholesterol.- your liver! The other day of the three days could.be fruits and vegetables solely!

You may now scoff to your hyena nature's content!

FM
Last edited by Former Member

Nearsightedness, I discovered, is caused by.unused cholesterol from beef! The fat from beef (cooked or uncooked, if not.used, is hard to get.rid of unless you use.soap) leaves a film of cholesterol over the eyes, which.makes you trying to see through something like a glass of watered milk! Observing the effects.on my eyes after exercising with weights or after eating fish.led me to this conclusion!.And I've proved it!

Now, altogether, cackle! It might help your digestion of unpalatable facts!

FM
Last edited by Former Member
@Former Member posted:

I've learned, the hard.way, that milk, which I loved to drink, is for babies.and growing children! I've been warned by my own body's.reactions now to milk!

Another thing, for you to scoff at, of course, is Jesus saying that he could rebuild the temple (his body) in 3 days! The body requires 3 days to recuperate from sex.or.exercise! The parable of the prodigal son is about the need to eat.beef.after sex! The older son was celibate! The key word is 'harlots'!

Fish, especially salmon or sardines.(the best for getting rid of too much cholesterol) shouldn't be used more than every 3 days (preferably after your beef day) or it will adversely affect your own organ that produces cholesterol.- your liver! The other day of the three days could.be fruits and vegetables solely!

You may now scoff to your hyena nature's content!

Shallyv, The body needs three days to recover from sex?  Just asking, not saying a thing.

T
@Django posted:

Maybe Amaya Milk Company have recently registered in Canada.

Found their website https://amayamilk.co/   and fb page https://www.facebook.com/amaya...o/?ref=page_internal

Any way it's good investment ,Guyana need to reduce food imports ,produce locally.

The report makes it sound like there is currently no milk in Guyana.  I don't know what may have happened but when I was a school boy I bought Guyana produced pasteurised milk at Rico and Shanta's in G'town.  I am very suspicious of PPP propaganda and that chap at GoInvest. 

T
@Totaram posted:

The report makes it sound like there is currently no milk in Guyana.

I don't know what may have happened but when I was a school boy I bought Guyana produced pasteurized milk at Rico and Shanta's in G'town.

I am very suspicious of PPP propaganda and that chap at GoInvest.

Guyana produced pasteurized milk ,I know ,the company was in Kingston .



Django
Last edited by Django
@Totaram posted:

Shallyv, The body needs three days to recover from sex?  Just asking, not saying a thing.

That is what I found when using the weights, as my late brother-in-law, would say, "yuh.tryin fuh.bun de kyandle at boat ends, nuh?"

Well, consider the two teachings of Jesus, the wisest man who ever lived, on the harlots and the necessity of eating.beef after sex, and the 3 days.to rebuild your.temple, your body, tangible LATENT energy, the dwelling place of you, a spirit or.intangible living energy!

Uh, the exercise I gave you for combatting Covid19 is the same that RECHARGES your body after sex, provided you eat.beef! Eating beef.without.having had sex.or heavy manual.labour or lifting weights is asking for.health problems from unused cholesterol! Check your pulse after eating beef.without.having had sex! It will be higher than usual! Eat beef after having had sex, then.check your pulse! It will be normal! Beef.is the ONLY flesh that provides the kind of cholesterol lost in sex or heavy manual labour or exercising.with.weights! Not pork, chicken or any other flesh! You can eat these if you do free hand exercise! You won't have any cholesterol problem, I assure you! What is lifting weights but doing a.few repetitions with more.than your own body is naturally capable of, and which requires beef to add to your own body's weight so as.to become more capable of lifting more weight than you are naturally able to, instead of hundreds of free hand movements which give you endurance which Hindu wrestlers and the Indian.army prefer! Don't.believe me! Observe yourself by experimenting!

FM
Last edited by Former Member
@Django posted:

I am pretty sure that Guyana had a government owned milk pasteurization plant at one point. It must have been the one in Kingston mentioned by Django.  Now, this is a no brainer.  A government owned milk business even if it loses money will be a massive boost for farmers and the health of the young.   

T
@cain posted:

I recall powdered milk in bottles around the time the drink Puma was introducef

I can't remember Puma! Was this after.'68? And powdered milk? The only powdered milk I knew milk I knew was. imported.Klim, which is milk spelled backwards, of course! How ingenious!

See the repetition above? The cretin doing his thing!

FM
Last edited by Former Member
@Former Member posted:

I can't remember Puma! Was this after.'68? And powdered milk? The only powdered milk I knew milk I knew was. imported.Klim, which is milk spelled backwards, of course! How ingenious!

See the repetition above? The cretin doing his thing!

It was around late sixties/early seventies.

cain
@Totaram posted:

Why?

Tota this is Guyana that we are talking about here. There are too many variables that have to run correctly for a fresh milk project to be successful. You have to keep the milk in the fridge. Guyana get black out. You have to sell it in a glass, plastic or cardboard container which has to come from overseas which means US currency. You have to get the fresh milk to the consumer in a time period. So lack of fuel, bad roads and vehicles can mess you up. Powered milk, on the other hand, buys you time to be successful and establish your brand with the consumers.

Prashad
Last edited by Prashad
@cain posted:

I recall powdered milk in bottles around the time the drink Puma was introducef

I remember Puma. That was good quality drink. I also remember Burnham chocolate milk. It use to come in a cardboard container. A very good product.

Prashad
@Prashad posted:

Any of you Canada-based fellas ever heard of these guys.

He is in that field for many many years, associated with a company in Ontario with dairy expertise.

We have done some prototype work for him related to milking equipment. He is going to introduce state of the art milking to Guyanese farmers along the coast. The increase productivity of milk will be processed.

This project has been a year in its making now.

Very knowledgeable chap and young. He has the years to succeed.

S
@Totaram posted:

Shallyv, The body needs three days to recover from sex?  Just asking, not saying a thing.

Um! Explains why I am tired for three days after. I sleep real good after, but only for one night. The other two nights tossing and turning, And I thought was because of sleeplessness.

S
@Totaram posted:

The report makes it sound like there is currently no milk in Guyana.  I don't know what may have happened but when I was a school boy I bought Guyana produced pasteurised milk at Rico and Shanta's in G'town.  I am very suspicious of PPP propaganda and that chap at GoInvest.

The investor is real, excited and driven as I was. Warned him that dealing with the PPP/PNC is not for the faint of heart. But one needs to keep on trying and with connections.

S
@seignet posted:

He is in that field for many many years, associated with a company in Ontario with dairy expertise.

We have done some prototype work for him related to milking equipment. He is going to introduce state of the art milking to Guyanese farmers along the coast. The increase productivity of milk will be processed.

This project has been a year in its making now.

Very knowledgeable chap and young. He has the years to succeed.

Best of luck to him. I concur with Django and Totaram re the fresh milk thing. Guyana did have it, or at least GT did. I remember those bottles with the red writing that Django posted.

FM
@seignet posted:

Um! Explains why I am tired for three days after. I sleep real good after, but only for one night. The other two nights tossing and turning, And I thought was because of sleeplessness.

Probably because.on those.two days after you ate.or drank two much of things that.your body didn't need and was having a hard time.digesting! You have to experiment to learn what your body needs!

FM
@Prashad posted:

Tota this is Guyana that we are talking about here. There are too many variables that have to run correctly for a fresh milk project to be successful. You have to keep the milk in the fridge. Guyana get black out. You have to sell it in a glass, plastic or cardboard container which has to come from overseas which means US currency. You have to get the fresh milk to the consumer in a time period. So lack of fuel, bad roads and vehicles can mess you up. Powered milk, on the other hand, buys you time to be successful and establish your brand with the consumers.

Prash, very good thinking! I.knew you could do it! You had it in you all this time, you just were too much in a hurry to post!

FM
@cain posted:

It was around late sixties/early seventies.

Thanks, sugah! Must have been after '68 March.when I left! I was addicted.to the taste of milk, even in Cadbury's chocolates!.Even when I had cancer until I learned, through experiment, that the mixing of milk and any other protein food was causing the problem. Sure, I would stop.eating or drinking any.protein and burn off the undigested cancer protein by exercising with the weights and be okay.again until the next time.I did the mixing.again!

FM
Last edited by Former Member

I haven't had a drink of milk (on occasion I do indulge in sweetened Almond milk, the unsweetened tastes like what I imagine would be a taste of chalk )  nor have I eaten meat, nor consumed alcohol over 25 yrs.  I cycle every chance I get and yet have energy left back to do so an so.

cain
@seignet posted:

Um! Explains why I am tired for three days after. I sleep real good after, but only for one night. The other two nights tossing and turning, And I thought was because of sleeplessness.

Chokin' de chicken does not constitute sex.

cain
@cain posted:

I haven't had a drink of milk (on occasion I do indulge in sweetened Almond milk, the unsweetened tastes like what I imagine would be a taste of chalk )  nor have I eaten meat, nor consumed alcohol over 25 yrs.  I cycle every chance I get and yet have energy left back to do so an so.

All nut milk is like the 'milk' you get from grated coconut squeezed with added water! There is hardly any nutrition in that! They've discarded the nut mostly! The manufacturers are probably pulling a fast one on consumers as the nut 'milk' is probably cheaper to produce than the no-longer available soy, which is far more nutritious! Look at the list of ingredients!

FM
Last edited by Former Member

Fellas use Burnham as an example of not repeating failures. Burnham chocolate milk was a good product. The problem was after a while Burnham could not find the US currency to import the materials needed to sell the chocolate milk in small containers at small shops. So the chocolate milk project joined the basket of PNC failures.

Prashad
@Prashad posted:

Fellas use Burnham as an example of not repeating failures. Burnham chocolate milk was a good product. The problem was after a while Burnham could not find the US currency to import the materials needed to sell the chocolate milk in small containers at small shops. So the chocolate milk project joined the basket of PNC failures.

There you've pinpointed the on-going  Guyanese problem, Prash! Lack of funds, so the politicos give you promises and themselves the money! What do you want? Everybody sharing funds equally? Well, wake up! We are all equal, it's just some of us are more equal when they have the power to be! Let's wait and see how this oil scenario plays out! Give Ali a chance! He's a Muslim, more a follower of Jesus than Paul's 'Christians'!

FM

When you were in the hospital, the pastor came by to pray with you. You said, you did not reject him, but he knew you were a muslim. Your names have a Mohammad in it. Paul in his epistles tells us who Christ really is. It sounds kinda fictional to believe, so the church prefers to think with gaps in it. That is the reason why muslim questions Paul Christians. Dey accept the existence of Ginnies, so it is not difficult for muslims to have a different perspective of The Christ. Those muslims who knows the truth accepts the fact that Christ came from the other realm, those are Arabs. The converts believes in the teaching of convert's narrow minded views, so dey say God cannot have a Son. To accept that notion, one has to have Hindu roots. Joseph Camphell said, a moth is attracted to a flame, it senses the heat, yet, it tests the realm and is consumed being part of the flames. Camphell was telling a Hindu parable.

S

Wtf are you talking about, seiggy? What fing pastor? What fing Mohammad? You're being.a fool like Campbell! Paul.was a part of the Jewish conspiracy to corrupt what Jesus taught! Fing TRUTH! Now, despite what we are led to believe, there aren't three Western religions! Just ONE! Judaism and the fools who, without their realizing it, teach the Pentateuch THEY call the Bible, a fing bible of Jewish.crap! Go read John.8: 44 and see.what Jesus thought of their 'god' of Genesis! Why do you think.they 'killed' him? We, spirits or intangible living energies, never fing die! The Jews.teach the grave is the.end so grab all you can because you won't have another chance to steal as much as you can! Steal or grab what? Matter? Go right afing.ahead, fool! The Jews will.profit from their misleading you, I'm quite sure!

And who the fk are Ginnies? If you're referring to.a djinn, the plural is djinni! In one of VS Naipaul's books he mentions that his grandfather helped a European overseer's barren wife bear a.child! He used a djinn or coolie jumbie or Guyanese baccoo! Wtf do you know? Besides BS?

FM
Last edited by Former Member

Just BS.

In the end, the cemetry is full of just bones, skulls with empty eye sockets and no intelligence. Imagine all the smart ppl resting with the so less smart ppl.

S
Last edited by seignet

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