Sunday 22 April 2012

Carbon Sink, Cowpea Pest, Minimally Processed Foods & Cheap Ginger

Halewood International, maker of the famous Crabbie’s ginger beer range, is the top food & drink firm in The Sunday Times top 100 list of British private companies with the fastest growing profits. The company came in at number 41 after reporting a 70.8% increase in annual profit growth, according to Food Manufacture. The article also mentioned that the Halewood range, including Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer, is sold in 40 countries.

The Sri Lanka Ministry of Agriculture will launch a project to increase the production of a number of crops including ginger. Although the article in the Daily News mentioned that the government will provide seeds and fertilisers, it did not reveal why the project is being undertaken. It must be the next step in the initiative announced last year to make the country self-sufficient. Today's Sunday Observer reports a call from a government scientist that both Sri Lanka and Pakistan should co-operate in agricultural research to improve farmers' incomes.

The week before last, Bermuda's Royal Gazette reported that John Barritt, a well-known Bermudan drinks company, had run out of ginger beer (see last week's post). The same source has now followed that story by reporting that Gosling, an equally well-known local drinks company, would like Bermudans to know that it did not run out of ginger beer over the same period. I wonder how much rivalry there is between these two businesses?

Interestingly, The Royal Gazette has now reported that Bermuda is also suffering from a shortage of the popular Carlsberg Elephant beer following shipping delays from Denmark.

The producer of Bundaberg Ginger Beer has announced a unique carbon offset project with CO2 Group, perth now reports. Bundaberg Brewed Drinks is collaborating with Australia's largest provider of carbon sink plantings by establishing an area of eucalypt species. 'Carbon sinks' are forests which are designed to capture and store carbon.

Bad news last week for ginger farmers in Nepal, The Kathmandu Post has reported. With ginger prices in India falling, traders have just not bothered to visit Nepalese villages. Farmers are now having to dispose of large quantities of ginger at low prices. When you consider that most Nepalese ginger is exported to India, the immediate future doesn't look to good. A vicious circle, really.

I may need a bit of help with this one. The Ghanian media, including the Ghana News Agency, are reporting that the government's Food and Drugs Board has destroyed large quantities of unsafe products in the Ashanti region including Butubutu Barimansuro Ginger Gin fruit juice. What is this ginger drink and why was it destroyed?

A new recipe book was published recently which may be worth a peruse. Lemongrass and Ginger - Vibrant Asian Recipes contains dishes from many ginger-growing countries in the region so I'm guessing that there is at least a smattering of ginger recipes. As you can tell, I've haven't actually seen the book but I will keep my eye open for it in my local high street bookseller.

A report in dti news indicates that Vietnam is unable to produce enough ginger to meet domestic demand. But it appears that increasing production will not solve the problem. The current shortfall is being filled by produce from China and these imports are a third cheaper than domestic ginger.

African Journals Online (AJOL) introduced me to a fascinating potential use for ginger. Cowpeas are an important food legume crop in Africa, Asia, southern Europe and Central and South America. Unfortunately, harvested cowpeas can be difficult to store as they are susceptible to infestation by a particular type of beetle. Callosobruchus maculatus, also known as the bruchid beetle or the cowpea weevil, is such a pest that the Gates Foundation has estimated that up to 50 percent of harvested cowpeas are lost each year in Africa to infestation. The research in AJOL investigated the potential benefits of using certain botanical materials on the beetle. The materials considered were powdered ginger, garlic and bitter leaf. It seems that the efficacy of these materials depends on the variety of cowpea being tested.

The Malaysian government's Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority is about to launch its Save On Kitchen Expenses programme. This initiative, according to the New Straits Times, will see 15 grocery items, including ginger, sold at up to 30 percent off when purchased at farmers' markets.

Three weeks ago I relayed a request for help in locating a branded ginger beer bottle, an important family history object. The Lancashire Evening Post has now reported that the search is over. A beer bottle and a flagon have been located.

The Pakistan Agriculture blog last week posted an article on the use of ginger oil as an anti-microbial agent and its use in Minimally Processed Foods (MPF). The public are increasingly demanding more natural foods and MDFs are a way of satisfying this demand but the lack of an acceptable shelf life is a major concern. The ginger oil has been shown to be effective in controlling micro-organisms in certain food products with the potential for wider use.

1 comment:

  1. Health Benefits of Ginger Oil

    http://www.theresearchpedia.com/health/aromatherapy/health-benefits-of-ginger-oil

    ReplyDelete