-construction set to begin at Onverwagt
Dairy Milk brand, will go on sale at local supermarkets throughout the country.
Containers with equipment for the processing plant and glass bottles for the milk were last week shipped and by the time the construction is finished by June, Sharma said that set up and installation would commence. Most of the equipment, he said, he was able to acquire from a now shuttered Canadian plant while the remainder he was “able to secure at reduced prices” from persons that he knows in the industry.
A former employee of a similar facility in Canada, Sharma said he took to researching the possibilities and spoke with local farmers in the region. He was satisfied by the feedback given and decided to invest the monies he received from his previous place of employment when its operations were shuttered after its owners went into retirement.
Government, through the office of Investment (G-INVEST), last month signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sharma for the operationalising of the facility, which will sell bottled pasteurized milk when it is commissioned, scheduled for late July of this year.
Try milk
In an interview with the Sunday
Stabroek, Sharma explained why he chose investing his retirement monies in milk and explained how beneficial he believes the venture could be for Guyanese and the local economy.
“I’m at the point in my life where I needed to make a decision, because I was given the opportunity to buy the company that I was working for in Canada, but I realized that if I made that choice, I can pretty much rule out moving back to Guyana. I would be able to visit but not live, so I decided the take the same [monies from that] and put it towards this project, where I can make a meaningful contribution to Guyana while living the life I want,” he said. He explained that he budgeted for the start-up capital to be around CDN$500,000 but from current figures it will be around CDN$450,000.
“This is my home. In the 18 years that I’ve lived in Canada, I’ve been back here at least 16 times and every time, getting back on that plane to head north was just as hard as it was the first time. I’ve always known that regardless of what I’ve achieved abroad, I will never be as happy there as I am here,” he said of choosing to invest here.
Asked why he chose milk to invest in, he related that the drink is also personal him, “I love milk; it’s a naturally nutritious drink, it does so much to support a healthy gut ecosystem, everyone knows the benefits of milk. It’s the perfect drink! If you’re hot, take a cold glass of milk. You are cold? Take a warm glass of milk. Can’t sleep? Then some brandy in a warm glass of milk.”
Sharma’s love for the industry came when he got a job as an engineer at a dairy plant.
“I started working in the automotive industry in Canada, went to school for that etcetera, but when I started working in the dairy industry over there, it blew my mind. Coming from Guyana and being accustomed to bucket and perhaps (bench) being the tools for milking a cow, it was amazing for me to see that the equipment and processes for milking and processing to be every bit as sophisticated as what I was accustomed to in the automotive sector,” he related.
“Then I would come back to Guyana and when I want fresh milk, first it’s almost impossible to get in Georgetown. And when you do find people with cows, it’s still bucket and (bench). Imagine I’m working on world class dairy operations in Canada and the US and I come back here and see how much far back our dairy sector is. It was aggravating, because we have so much green and we have cattle, but still we are drinking imported milk, which is nowhere as nutritious as fresh milk. Over time that aggravation became a revelation and motivation and I started thinking that it would be a fantastic opportunity to do something I enjoy in this place that I love so much,” he added while pointing to photos of aspects of the operations.
Financial incentive
Already, he has an agreement with five