Malawi Shortage, Maldive Ginger Beer, Organic Ginger & Tigers

This isn't a good time for ginger ale drinkers in Malawi. The Nyasa Times reported that Carlsberg Malawi, the country's main supplier of soft drinks (including ginger ale) as well as the expected alcoholic beers, is suffering from the twin effects of a disconnected water supply and a shortage of bottles. Could it be any worse? Incidentally, Carlsberg Malawi was the first Carlsberg brewery outside of Denmark when it opened in 1968.

Two year ago Ceylon Cold Stores Limited launched its Elephant House Ginger Beer in the Maldives through the distributor Lily International. Lanka Business Today has reported that the drink has made significant progress in being distributed to all of the leading resorts. Elephant House Dry Ginger Ale has also been well received.

Meghalaya is a state in north east India. It is known for an abundance of acidic soil which is ideal for organic agriculture. Hence the state's designation as part of India's organic hub along with Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. I understand that many years of organic matter decay has contributed to the suitability for organic farming. For a country which produces and consumes huge quantities of ginger it is understandable that this region has been chosen to grow organic ginger. It is so important that the state government has organised organic ginger training courses to raise awareness, according to The Shillong Times.

Still in north east India and a potential clash between conservationists and ginger farmers. The Kukis, an ethic group also found in north west Burma and parts of Bangladesh, have asked the local council not to go ahead with a proposed tiger reserve of over 1,650 sq.km as it will affect the livelihood of 50,000 farmers and farm workers, many of whom are involved with the production of ginger. The Kukis say that 80 percent of the reserve is currently used for growing ginger. (Source: Telegraph India).

It may seem hard to believe but ginger farmers in some parts of Bhutan are throwing their produce away because they cannot find porters to take the harvest to market, according to the BBS broadcasting agency. It's both ridiculous and tragic.

Canadian Demand, Help For Nepal, Guyanese Ginger & Price Extremes

What do you do when you can't get the price you need for your newly harvested ginger? If you live in the village of Wooling in Bhutan, you put it back in the ground again. According to Kuensel Online, farmers have found that the current wholesale price is less than half that of a year ago and is now lower than the cost of the initial 'seed' stock. So, rather than accept a loss, the farmers are storing their crops in large pits in the ground and waiting until the price rises to an acceptable level. Bhutan is totally dependent upon India for its ginger exports although insignificant quantities have been exported occasionally to Bangladesh and Thailand. The last available figures show that India imported 1108 tonnes of Bhutanese ginger in 2010. The International Trade Centre has identified ginger as an export sector with high potential.

Demand for ginger and garlic in Quebec and Ontario increased by 200% last year according to one of Canada's leading garlic importers. The Packer reported that the Montreal-based company CDS imports its ginger and garlic from Ecuador to satisfy the health-conscious and those with a taste for ethnic dishes.

eKantipur.com reported that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has taken the next step in its promotion of ginger from Nepal. The WTO selected Nepal as part of the Trading Stories Project which is designed to help the least developed countries. A WTO team has arrived in the country to film ginger production. The article also mentioned that the Nepalese government will implement a ginger programme over the next two-three years. About 2,000 small ginger farmers will be provided with improved 'seed' stock and a new processing plant.

New Chapter, a major US-based provider of organic and natural food supplements, has been acquired by the multi-national Procter & Gamble. This will enable New Chapter's many ginger products to be brought to the attention of a wider audience.

The Australian ginger harvest is imminent. Watch this space. In the meantime, here is a YouTube video of a ginger harvest.

Let me introduce a new addition to our ever-expanding list of ginger growing countries - Guyana. Although not a major producer, Guyana does grow enough to export principally to Barbados but also to Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and the Dutch Antilles (all small-scale producers themselves). Ginger is grown in the Barima-Waini region (also known as Region One) in the north west of the country. This is an area which is subject to a long-running territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela.

They say that Guyanese ginger beer is a popular drink. This is quite understandable as we all know that ginger beer is a popular drink anywhere, and rightly so.

Promasidor Nigeria Ltd, part of the Africa-wide Promasidor group, has announced that it will launch a ginger-flavoured tea towards the end of March. According to MarketWorld, this tea will be one of two new flavours "being introduced to offer consumers different choices and also add fun, excitement and refreshment to tea consumption".

We've mentioned before that Naitasiri province is a major ginger growing area in Fiji. Prospective ginger farmers last week received encouraging news on fijilive when it reported a statement from Fiji's prime minister that Naitasiri ginger farmers are expected to earn $7 million by next year. To put this into perspective, last year ginger farmers earned $3.5 million.

The Taiwanese government has taken the unusual step of introducing measures to increase the price of domestically grown ginger to protect farmers, according to Focus Taiwan. Following last year's good prices farmers have increased production this year. Now there is a glut of ginger which has led, naturally, to a drop in the price. The government will now activate a procurement mechanism aimed, presumably, at ensuring a minimum price. It will also assist in marketing the crop in both domestic and foreign markets.

Bhutan Crisis, Travel Retail, Value-Added Project & World's No.1 Ginger Ale

Back in May I wrote about the hardship being felt by ginger farmers in Bhutan whose crops had dropped dramatically in value compared to the previous year. BBS, Bhutan's National Public Service broadcaster, has now reported that the price has continued to fall and has reached a new low. It isn't clear what has caused the fall in price although some in Bhutan blame it on a 'bountiful' harvest in India. I'm not so sure about that as Indian ginger farmers are also suffering from a drop in price. It is ironic that the price is set at the Gelephu auction yard which is also the site of a World Food Programme centre whose role is to alleviate poverty in the country by distributing food aid.

The Boston Globe featured a potted history of the Clicquot Club as told by Paul LaCroix, the great-grandson of the founder of the ginger ale manufacturer. I'll let you read it but I will mention something that I didn't know. The name "Clicquot" was taken from the famous French champagne Veuve Clicquot way back in the 1880s.

A number of sources carried the news that India's largest retailer Future Group has entered a partnership with the Himachal Pradesh state government to promote a range of products, including ginger, under the brand name 'Brand Himachal'. It is hoped that Himachal farmers will have a guaranteed market for their products in Big Bazaar outlets in 80 cities and towns and 65 rural locations across the country. The state chief minister, Kumar Dhumal, believes that the partnership will help farmers to compete in a market currently dominated by China.

The Moodie Report reported that Berry Bros & Rudd (BBR) has identified travel retail as a market with potential for The King’s Ginger. Although the high-strength 41% abv liqueur has been around since 1903, it has only recently been given a new lease of life by BBR. The macerated ginger root drink is made by De Kuyper. If you will allow me, I'm going to shamelessly plug this drink. I'm not a spirits drinker. For years I've only drunk beer and wine. But when I reviewed this product for the All Things Ginger website I instantly fell in love with it. So give it a try. You'll find a link near the top of this page.

When I read the previous report about travel retail it dawned on me that I've never really known what it is. So if you are like me, here is a definition I gleaned from last year's Airline Retail Conference. Travel retail can be defined as "All types of sales to the travelling public". It encompasses duty free sales at airports, on board aircraft and ferries. It also includes sales at off-airport shops, border shops, seaport shops, military and diplomatic sales. Rather obvious really, isn't it? Incidentally, I've also read that travel retail is the best way to advertise a product and build a brand.

Whilst browsing during the week I came across a large project being undertaken in the Indian state of Orissa. The project, A Value Chain On Ginger & Ginger Products, started in April 2009 and will last until next summer when Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology and its four business partners will report on the outcome. The aim of the project is to increase the income for farmers by switching to elite varieties of ginger, improving post-harvest management techniques, introducing value-added product processing and, finally, commanding better prices when going to market. A website has been created for the project if you would like any further information.

The Ginger Ale Authority has named Boylan Bottlework’s Ginger Ale as the World’s No.1 Ginger Ale. The Ginger Ale Authority is a US organisation which reports on the world of ginger ale. A worthy undertaking.

Speciality Crop, Ginger Levy, Adding Value and Returning Home

Farm World reported last week that federal funds are available for farmers who wish to grow ginger as a speciality crop in Indiana, USA. My knowledge of US geography is fairly basic but I would have thought that the state was too far north to be capable of producing ginger on an economically viable scale. Trusty Wikipedia tells me that the climate is humid continental which means that the summers are warm to hot and often humid. Acceptable at a push but the growing season is only up to 185 days. Ginger typically requires nine months but six months will do if you want to harvest young, immature rhizomes. So I'm a little puzzled by this. Unless, of course, the ginger is grown indoors!

A hospital in Jamshedpur in India has invited tenders for the supply of ginger for its diet department. I'm used to reading about hugely expensive tenders for IT systems and construction projects but there must be a low end to any scale. With India being the world's largest producer of ginger, this must be the most cost-effective way to find an acceptable supplier.

Time is running out for those of you who have not yet applied for a position on the Ginger Industry Research and Development Advisory Committee. This new body is run by the Australian government's Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) and will consist of a small group of people with a range of skills and experience covering the production, research, and value-adding sectors of the ginger industry. The closing date for applications is tomorrow.

Still with the RIRDC, the Australian government has introduced a 0.5 per cent levy on the sale price of fresh ginger, seed ginger and processing ginger that is produced in Australia and sold or processed in Australia. The levy, introduced on 1st April 2011, will provide funding for ginger research and development conducted by the RIRDC.

It is well known in the ginger industry that selling raw ginger generates a lower economic return than processed ginger. With this in mind, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) in the Nigerian state of Imo is collaborating with the Mbaitoli Ginger Growers Association to increase the value of the crops by converting the raw ginger into ground ginger. The RMRDC has now awarded contracts to two local engineering companies to create the machinery for slicing, drying and grinding the raw ginger. It is planned that the ground ginger, which has a considerably longer shelf life than raw ginger, will be used in the domestic food and drink industry and also exported.

The Malnad region of Karnataka state in southern India has been known for its coffee, green chillies and rice. But soon, according to the Deccan Herald, it will also be known for its ginger. The financial returns from growing ginger have now become so attractive that not only are farmers switching crops but young men who were previously driven away to the cities in search of work are now returning home to start a new career in ginger farming.

Whilst prices are looking good in parts of India, the price of ginger in neighbouring Bhutan has more than halved compared to a year ago. For many Bhutanese farmers, ginger is their only source of income. The farmers say that the prices are set by the buyers who all come from India. I can't help but wonder whether these buyers are indulging in a spot of speculating; buying cheaply in Bhutan from farmers with no other established means to market and storing the ginger whilst the price in India rises. As agriculture provides employment for 80 per cent of the population, is it not time for Bhutan to start expanding and widening its export markets and thereby reduce its reliance on a small group of international traders.