The government of Dominica, through the Ministry of Commerce, has made a donation to Dominica Essential Oils and Spices (DEOS), in the sum of EC$100,000, for the refurbishment and renovation of artisan distilleries, to improve production which was stunted by the passage of Tropical Storm Erika, in 2015.
At the signing ceremony, on Friday morning, Minister of Commerce, Enterprise, and Small Business Development, Roselyn Paul, deemed it a privilege to contribute to the expansion of the island’s manufacturing sector.
“It is, indeed, a privilege that we can have this partnership to restore the Dominica Essential Oils—a cooperative, I think, existing since 1968, and the major non-financial cooperative in Dominica,” she articulated. “It is in keeping with our focus to ensure that manufacturing and agro-processing continue to expand and thrive,” she noted.
The repairs, she stated, will facilitate increased production of oils, for ensuring continued employment and produce.
DEOS Chairman, Phillip Guiste, highlighted the importance of upgrading the artisan distilleries on-island.
“The reason for us to upgrade the artisan distilleries, which we call the local distilleries, is to ensure that they can give more capacity. They do give capacity, but because of the way it is constructed, we believe we can do a better design of it, and we’ll be able to get more oil,” he explained. “The distilled bay oils in the artisan distilleries is labour intensive; so, we hope that we can modernize the distillery.”
The main distillery, which was housed in the Petite Savanne area was “completely washed away” by the passage of Tropical Storm Erika last year.
He said that ten of the 22 distilleries on the island are to be repaired in the first instance.
Guiste stated that the cooperative intends to give priority to farmers in the communities of Petite Soufriere, Fond St. Jean, Grand Bay, and Bagatelle.
The Chairman divulged that production is expected to be up to full capacity in the next few months. He also announced the cooperative’s intention to construct a new distillery.
He revealed that DEOS has contributed over $6-million to the country’s economy.
The cooperative consists of 562 members, 300 of which are active members.
Is there somewhere that I buy some bay oil from Dominica to be shipped to the U.S.?
Hope the distillery at Bon Repos/Tete Morley gets some help
It’s the bay oil cooperative, not the oils and spices industry….there is no oils and spices industry
Great! No comments yet when it’s something good ….
And there goes another bribe.