Above: cassava at the Red Stripe factory (JIS Photo)

By Dana Niland
CJ Contributor

Red Stripe Beer is now using cassava starch produced locally in Jamaica as a key ingredient in its brew.

This change in ingredients represents a shift from imported barley to locally grown raw material.

“This is real progress in the making and I wish to congratulate Red Stripe on having reached yet another milestone on this journey to brew beer with local cassava,” said Jamaica’s Minister of Agriculture, Labor and Social Security, Derrick Kellier. “With this commissioning, you will help Jamaica move closer to our stated goal of import substitution.”

Kellier also said that the Ministry signed a lease agreement in March for an additional 250 acres of land for cassava cultivation.

This follows the recent commissioning of the brewery’s cassava starch factory at its headquarters in St Andrew, which represents an almost $2 million investment under its Project Grow initiative.

Managing Director of Red Stripe Cedric Blair said that the partnership with Jamaica on the project has been “massive,” and that the project’s aim is to reach 40-percent locally grown raw material by 2020.