Copalli Rum: Spirit of the Rainforest
In tonight’s episode of Belize on Reel, we return to Toledo District to take a closer look at a unique product that is quickly making a distinct name for itself on the local and global markets. Copalli Rum is the flagship liquor of Toledo. It is the product of sustainability and environmental friendliness. The distillery that manufactures this spirit is also creating jobs for residents in southern Belize and giving back to the community through charitable donations. Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano with that report.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Spirit of the Rainforest is a tagline used by the Copal Tree Distillery to describe its award-winning Copalli Rum. The alcoholic beverage is the proud product of the company’s social and environmental purpose which is to preserve the rainforest by creating economic opportunities for residents of Toledo District.
Waluco Maheia
Waluco Maheia, Brand Ambassador, Copalli Rum
“One way of truly achieving sustainability and true conservation is providing economic opportunity, providing an alternative to having to take advantage of our natural resources that we have here in Belize.”
The distillery sits on sixteen thousand acres of land that is privately held. The swathes of arable land that are being used for growing and cultivating sugarcane and cacao are tracts that were previously cleared for use as citrus groves.
Giovanni Alamilla
Giovanni Alamilla, Market Manager, Copalli Rum
“Of those sixteen [thousand acres], we’re using roughly two hundred acres for the growing of the organic cane. Another eighty, or roughly eighty [acres], we use for the organic cacao that’s infused in the rum as well.”
Made from black and red sugar cane, as well as cacao, Copalli Rum is designed to have minimum carbon footprint.
Waluco Maheia
“Everything from seeing waste not as waste but as something valuable to the process whereas waste after distillation, we extract our Copalli Rum, the waste after distillation goes right back into the fields as nutrient rich, organic fertilizer. Our distillery is powered by waste. In the production season, after we press the cane juice and that cane juice then goes on for fermentation and distillation, all the cane fiber that’s left behind would normally be considered waste, but for us it becomes a bio-fuel. We add that along with biomass to our boiler which then generates steam energy for powering and heating water for sanitation temperature regulation for the fermentation tanks and, most importantly, and a big energy consumer is the heating of the stills for the actual distillation process.”
The style of rum originally distilled in the French Caribbean islands from freshly squeezed sugarcane juice is called Rhum Agricole.
Giovanni Alamilla
“It’s a French process where you use freshly cut sugar cane juice, rainwater to proof it down and yeast. That’s it. So it’s not a molasses based rum. So right away you will smell the difference, you will taste the difference.”
Each year, Copal Tree Distillery collects approximately one hundred thousand gallons of rainwater to proof its rum. The company prides itself on not using any groundwater in the creation of Copalli Rum. On average, the alcohol industry uses thirty-seven liters of groundwater for every liter of spirit distilled.
Giovanni Alamilla
“The rainwater we collect from the roof of the building. So right away, again, you don’t have to go through much processing of the water because we are not pulling it from the ground. All the minerals that would collect from the ground. We’re not taking from what might go downstream for the people to use. In PG it gets between a hundred and fifty to a hundred and eighty inches of rain per year. So it’s not like we’ll run out of water.”
Beyond the major investment that has been made into creating this unique Belizean product, are the many contributions towards the socioeconomic development of Toledo.
Giovanni Alamilla
“You’re looking at the investing that we’re putting back into the community with the amount of people that we hire, roughly between a hundred and fifty to two hundred that’s fully employed on the compound. Then you’re talking about what we’re putting back into the community itself, either for the school, the hospital, different programs, you know. So that’s something that we take pride in.”
Unlike other stakeholders that are turning to the use of public funds to establish a foothold in the industry, Copalli Rum is a proud Belizean company that is solely funded by private investors.
Giovanni Alamilla
“Copalli Rum is hundred percent privately funded. There’s no public funds involved in any aspect. Again, we are reinvesting in the community. We are hiring people, we are purchasing things locally. We’re always looking at ways to help the community.”
Isani Cayetano for News Five.
