With its Savannah Milk products being sold in Guyana, Barbados, St Kitts, and Antigua – Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), through its subsidiary Demerara Dairies Inc (DDI), is hoping to tap into other markets within the region when its US$20M Dairy Farm begins operation in 2025.
The dairy farm, which is currently under construction at Moblissa on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, will see the importation of 500 dairy cows from the United States, when it is completed in 2025. The company is aiming to have first milk by the third quarter of 2025, and the commercial production of milk under the Savannah Milk brand by September, latest October.
Annually, the facility at Moblissa is expected to produce 5 million liters of milk – enough milk to supply the local and regional markets.
On Sunday, during a visit to the facility at Moblissa, Chairman of DDL, Komal Samaroo told reporters that the multi-million-dollar project is a key component of the company’s strategy to expand its reach using the Savannah Milk brand.
“As you know, we have packaging operations at Diamond, and we have been building the Savannah brand of milk which is made from reconstituted imported powder milk. That was the first stage of a market-led growth strategy. To build a brand, create a market, and then work on the backward integration, as we seek to build domestic supply chain that flows into our manufacturing. This project is a very strategic part of that overall plan,” Samaroo explained.
He said as even as the company constructs the facility at Moblissa, it is putting in the necessary infrastructure at Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara to receive the fresh milk, and store it under the requisite conditions before it is packaged for the local and regional markets.
Samaroo said the model being used has proven to be a successful model for profitable and sustainable growth.
As he gave reporters a tour of the site, the DDL chairman said the project is being driven by modern technology. It was explained that the company would be relying heavily on science and technology as the milk is produced on the farm. Each cow, Samaroo explained, would be outfitted with an electronic device to monitor their health and production.
“They will be fed based on a menu that is based on nutrition. Their health will be taken care of. They will be living in conditions that are comfortable, not too hot, so that their productivity per animal is kept very high. This project is built on the basis of quality and competitiveness; hence, we are using science and technology to make this the most efficient dairy form certainly in Guyana, and I believe in this region,” Samaroo said.
The cows will be fed using four different varieties of grass along with sweet corn.
The farm at Moblissa will have a veterinarian facility along with a milking parlour, treatment plant and a storage facility, where the milk will be kept in cold storage before being transported to DDL facilities at Diamond.
More than US$9M has been spent on the project so far.
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