Edward B. Beharry and Company Limited (EBB) is investing $1.7 billion this year in new plant and equipment for the production of its range of pastas and chowmein.
According to a statement from Chairman of the company Anand Beharry yesterday, the investment is being financed by capital that the Beharry Group of Companies raised on its own.
The installation of a new pasta plant at the company’s Industrial Site complex has already begun and is scheduled for completion by the end of April. “This state-of-the-art facility is fully automated and incorporates 60-foot silos, from which the raw materials will be delivered into the production line,” Beharry said.
The new plant will allow the company to offer many new types of pasta, along with the current high quality line, which over the years has become a Guyanese favourite. “In addition to the local market, EBB is continuing its regional thrust, utilising the benefits of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) as well as exporting to further afield where Guyanese and West Indians in the Diaspora enjoy products from home,” the chairman said.
According to the release, the new investment will ensure that the company’s production capacity exceeds regional demand, putting it in a perfect position to satisfy rapidly expanding regional markets.
Beharry said too that in addition to increased production, the company has set up full service distribution centres in Trinidad and Tobago and in Suriname. “These centres will ensure that EBB is poised to meet the ever increasing needs of the Caricom member states facilitated by the CSME,” he stated.
In addition to the new pasta plant, the company will this year sign a contract for the construction of a new chowmein plant to augment the existing plant, which was commissioned five years ago. “This will allow the introduction of a different type of chowmein which is not on offer anywhere else in the region,” Beharry said.
According to Raymond Ramsaroop, Production Executive at the company, the new machinery will quadruple the company’s production output and allow for 24-hour production. Currently, the machines allow for 10 to 12-hour periods of operation. The company generates its own power and only relies on the Guyana Power and Light during low power demand periods.
Ramsaroop said that with the demand for the company’s products, he is already wondering whether the company made too small an investment, but it is open to further expansion and investment.
The company had been accredited with its ISO 9001 in July 2005, making it the third local company, up to that time, to be so accredited. Edward B. Beharry and Company Limited is in its 77th year of operation and had risen to fame for manufacturing and distributing hard-boiled sweets.
