Molasses Price Debate Heats Up: Farmers, Rum Makers at Odds

Molasses might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of national debates, but it’s now at the center of a growing conversation in Belize. Agriculture Minister Jose Abelardo Mai says local farmers want to raise the price of molasses sold to rum producers, arguing that the current low cost fuels the production of cheap rum, something even Cabinet members have linked to social issues in urban areas. But rum makers are raising objections, warning that a price hike could push them out of the market. So, here’s the question: should the focus be on protecting local industry, or addressing the broader impact of cheap alcohol? It’s a sticky situation, pun intended, and one that’s sparking real debate.

 

Jose Abelardo Mai, Minister of Agriculture

“We export molasses to the US. There are essentially only two buyers of molasses in the world, both of them are in the U.S. But we are talking about molasses that is sold in Belize locally to the rum makers and they’re only like three or four, maybe half a dozen rum makers that buy molasses to make rum. You know the companies that sell rum, over and over again, you hear cabinet members saying, “Unu know this rum di destroy families in the cities because it is cheap, it is so cheap.” It is cheap because molasses sold locally is cheap So the farmers are saying, on the C molasses, increase the price by one and a half times, and then the B molasses, you increase by two times the price. Those molasses are used to make rum, and so, if you think rum is a good thing, then you’ll have to pay for it. But that is what the farmers are asking in their joint release that they issued.”

 

Reporter

“The producers of these liquors are saying that an increase may push them out of the market completely.”

 

Jose Abelardo Mai

“Look, I won’t get into that because I won’t get into any argument or debate with the rum makers. But some of the rum makers in this country are some of the wealthiest people. That’s all I will say.”