ROSEAU, Commonwealth of Dominica – Dominica has already secured a Venezuelan market for the export of its coffee as plans to revive that sector intensifies.
Construction of a coffee processing plant donated by the Venezuela Government commenced in April of this year by a joint company; Venezuela/Dominica (VENEDOM).
VENEDOM is a company formed through a partnership between a locally formed company Nature Isle Coffee (NIC) and Venezuelan Coffee Corporation (VCC). VCC owns 51% shares and NIC 49 % shares.
The facility which will see the processing of 2000 tons of coffee beans per year is being constructed at One Mile in Portsmouth.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told Parliament on Wednesday that 25 acres of coffee has been established and over 10,000 coffee seedlings have been prepared for distribution.
He said over 800 sustainable jobs will be created as a result of this project and that the coffee enterprise will comprise of up to 200 famers.
“In order to deliver the level of supply, approximately two thousand acres of coffee will be required. Local supplies of coffee beans would be initially supplemented by imported beans to meet the required beans of the plant”.
He said further that the amount of beans imported will be progressively reduced as local production increases.
He also dispelled suggestions that Dominica does not have sufficient coffee to process at the factory.
“Do they know of any Cocoa farm in Switzerland and Switzerland produces the best chocolate in the world?
It is about adding value and nothing is wrong in importing beans to Dominica, adding value to it and sending back to the market where you can get the difference in price from the raw product to a processed product,” he said.
Prime Minister Skerrit explained that Dominica’s equity participation in VENEDOM is the coffee equipment and the land on which the land on which the plant is being constructed.
He also disclosed to Parliament that VENEDOM has obtained $11.2 million from the Alba Bank to construct and commission the coffee plant in an effort to assist farmers in rehabilitating the farms and to finance the establishment of new farms.
According to the Prime Minister, farmers who will be participating in the project will receive assistance from VENEDOM and about 18 new jobs for the operational aspect of the enterprise will be created.
Other jobs will also be created in the actual production and cultivation of the coffee beans which includes one mechanical engineer, one quality assurance supervisor, five machine operators, ten packers and one marketing officer to work alongside Export Dominica.
Source: Dominica Vibes News
