Export business multimillion expansion looks to CARICOM and Middle East
A major investment was launched today in Spanish Lookout; one of the most economically stable communities. Bel-Car has traditionally exported red kidney beans to CARICOM countries and other grains to as far as the Middle East. It is now venturing in the production of corn meal for the export market. News Five’s Jose Sanchez was in the Cayo District and found out that the company is looking beyond the CARICOM market to the global economy.
Jose Sanchez
“Spanish Lookout in the Cayo District is one community that is not affected by the financial recession. As a case in point, Bel-Car Export and Import has just invested several million dollars in an expansion that will bring more foreign reserves to the country and more dollars into the pockets of farmers.”
Otto Friesen, CEO, BEl-Car Export and Import
otto friesen
“In the year 2000 when farmers, especially bean farmers from Spanish Lookout, saw the need to increase in capacity of cleaning beans and getting a quality that would be exportable. So they pooled equipment, purchased a plant from Peru and also took over a plant that was already operating here in Belize and combined that into a company that aggressively exports beans.”
During the past decade, BEL-Car has successfully packaged and made a living on beans. Essentially about two hundred registered farmers have grown red kidney beans, black beans and black eyed peas mostly for the foreign market.
Otto Friesen
“Right now our biggest volume is black eye peas, after that would be red kidney beans.”
Jose Sanchez
“But in terms of the black eye and the red kidney, how much are we talking about per year?”
Otto Friesen
“We are exporting at this moment—depending on the crop yield—we export between one hundred and fifty to two hundred twenty foot container loads of beans per year.”
Jose Sanchez
“What is the gross that you receive on that?”
Otto Friesen
“About four million U.S. dollars per year.”
Jose Sanchez
“Do you also receive beans from other parts of the country?”
Otto Friesen
“Yes, we do buy beans from all over the country. Anybody that has grown beans and wants to sell them is welcomed to come here and sell them to us.”
But according to Otto Friesen, the CEO of BEL-Car, after ten years, the company found it necessary to focus on another crop, corn. Two point one million dollars have been used to purchase additional equipment from Brazil to make the factory capable of processing corn to cornmeal.
Otto Friesen
“Very high in technology, computerized equipment to do a quality product that is good enough for the export market. What we have there is a line of cornmeal equipment where there is a few machines to essentially clean the corn, to take out all the foreign material, the debris and whatever is there to come out with a clean corn. After that the corn is de-germed and from there it is ground down to any size of meal our customers are asking for. We can do a whole variety of different sizes.”
Jose Sanchez
“Corn is the new market, what different uses do you have for the corn meal.?
Otto Friesen
“We have been with beans in CARICOM for quite a few years and we have continuously been noting that CARICOM does consume a lot of cornmeal, which so far usually has been imported from countries like the United States. Due to the fact that we have an overproduction of corn and we also have very good quality of corn here we have seen the opportunity to also get a share in the market with cornmeal.”
CARICOM represents only one of several markets that BEL-CAR has penetrated.
Otto Friesen
“Black eye peas we have shipped them basically all over the world. We are shipping a lot to the middle east, to countries like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and we’re shipping a lot to Europe as well; countries like Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands. We have also shipped quite a bit to the United States and Canada.”
Jose Sanchez
“Do you see cornmeal also going to these regions?”
Otto Friesen
“Now for the beginning we basically aim at CARICOM as our market on the cornmeal but as we go on and expand we are thinking of Europe as our market too. The two hundred farmers are very likely going to expand quite a bit in their production. Agriculture is production is labor intensive. So there’s quite bit of opportunity that will open up on the farms.”
Jose Sanchez
“The expansion of the factory signifies that the future for farmers might be lying in a bed of corn. Reporting for News Five, Jose Sanchez.”
Friesen says the farmers believe the investment is recession proof because his company believes that because cornmeal is a basic food product, it is not something people will stop buying.
This is good news for the farmers, i hope that the factory will buy crop from the farmers at a decent price in the future, and don’t get too darn greedy.
Belize do not have many factories owned by the government which could supply many jobs for belizeans, and attract many more international interests.
And while we continue to ask why are there still no blue-print for future factories to turn grains into flour for exportation the belizean people will continue to suffer till they can learn how to grow their own corn, or turn water into wine by using every single resources available to them.
Great job and cornmeal is versatile. Can you put some of this aside & offer it at a fair price for local consumption. Since we now have television, include it in some cooking shows so that Belizeans can get a feel for its many uses. We need healthy, affordable food.
BELIZE seems to have ENDLESS RESOURCES……..we could eliminate poverty if we really wanted to….. or at least keep it very low.
shows you what hard work produces if all the criminals in belize would start farming there would be no crime but when you have all those lazy people who want something for nothing thats what happens unu need to learn from the menonites and the maya people how fu work hard and produce instead of stealing and murdering if this gov would institute a program for the poor people give them a piece of land and seeds to grow crops maybe things would turn around but all they care about is their own pockets my hat is off to the hard working menonites and the hard working mayan people .
maybe these vultures should help the poor people i n our country,
after all they came and took over all the commercial farming. i hope they pay a good
price to the other farmers. it seems that only this community is making money.
i agree in some part of the SHIRLEY COMMENT, but actually if you go deep into them must of them don’t pay taxes, why? ask the gov. why they don’t. it’s true and factual since i personally have had conversations with some of them and no wonder they get the business booming while we have to pay taxes. it’s really true only a few people know this but it’s an agreement they have with the gov. but gov.. gets his bite from it also.
Now, this is great news!…I would not mind hearing of news like this more often!
I agree with you Rod…Government should fairly distribute the lands of Belize that are fertile to small farmers….but as “Power of the Mayan” ideology, they seems to own the lands in the south…which should not be occurring right Rod??? this is a form of racism to the Garifuna because they also live in the South…I am pretty sure you will disagree with me because you follow the Maya Ideology…
belizeanpride, please be a bit more specific with the ‘information’ you give out. You can’t just blurt out that “MENNONITES DON’T PAY TAXES”. Lets just make it clear here: Mennonites do not pay Social Security – that is the only tax Mennonites are “exempt” from. “Exempt” because they promised to “take care of their own”. Meaning Mennonites have their own internal tax structure that takes care of ALL schools, roads, etc. ALL other taxes including Sales Tax, Business Tax, Land Tax, … any other tax any other Belizean pays, Mennonites pay! And ask any Tax official and they will tell you Mennonites pay LOTS of taxes. After all, they do lots of business!
In conclusion, Mennonites pay taxes, and WORK HARD!! Just broadly saying that Mennonites don’t pay taxes only fuels the sense of corruption in the public. ok belizeanpride?. good.. thank you for your understanding!
Now, I must say that you have made a very good comment. Indeed it would be good for the government to teach us how to farm and also provide lands for farming.
Hope they taking notes….
belizeanpride and shirly hulse seem to be teaming up with the rest of the population that doesn’t want to work and get something for nothing. I find it laughable that you have an issue that mennonites don’t pay taxes. Please go and campaign so that the mennonites pay more taxes. You’ll end up paying for it by buying the most basic human food products. Government would be a fool to charge any taxes on producers of basic food items. I’d like to see your face if you go to the market and buy some papaya, pineapple, oranges, peppers etc. and the lady tells you, that’s $15 plus $5 taxes. Kudos to the people that can convert a locally produced product and sell it overseas – that’s free money. Now let’s hope we see some belizeans do this soon … or are they too lazy?
belizeanpride, please be a bit more specific with the ‘information’ you give out. You can’t just blurt out that “MENNONITES DON’T PAY TAXES”. Lets just make it clear here: Mennonites do not pay Social Security – that is the only tax Mennonites are “exempt” from. “Exempt” because they promised to “take care of their own”. Meaning Mennonites have their own internal tax structure that takes care of ALL schools, roads, etc. ALL other taxes including Sales Tax, Business Tax, Land Tax, … any other tax any other Belizean pays, Mennonites pay! And ask any Tax official and they will tell you Mennonites pay LOTS of taxes. After all, they do lots of business!
In conclusion, Mennonites pay taxes, and WORK HARD!! Just broadly saying that Mennonites don’t pay taxes only fuels the sense of corruption in the public. ok belizeanpride?. good.. thank you for your understanding! Let bring our belizean pride a notch up!
yeah we wil see if they will buy from Belizean farmers tooo
time will tell that for sure.
i agree with you uhc educate these people please my hat is off to the hard working menonites and the hard working mayan people instead of being envious of these hard working people you should learn from them and stop lazy unu self.
guinea grass soldier yes i agree with you every or any belizean who wants to farm and work hard should get a piece of fertile land and help with equiptment and seeds to start farming i dont put down anyone who wants to better themselves by doing hard work so yes guinea grass i hope you get piece of land knowlege equiptment and seeds to farm with if that is your desired goal i say power to all the poor people who want to work hard and get ahead. but you no wa get it with this gov .
Joy;
You needn’t worry that the Mennonite community will not buy from the Belizean farmers. We sell our corn and red kidney beans within the community. Further, the Mennonites are very good customers for our pitaya fruit.
If you offer a good product, they will buy it at a fair price.
Get this … The Mexican government has been encouraging farmers by giving them free land, all equipment to do the work and a definite market for the produce. All you have to do is buy the seeds and fuel and do the work. They have an understanding of how important it is to produce a basic food product. The best our government has done is tax the land, the fuel, the seeds, the labourer, the equipment, you name it. Oh, and the price of land? Ungodly. We can scare the mennonites away and get nothing, not even our own food, or let them produce for our own country and hell, why not sell some to the rest of the world. If they don’t do it from here, they WILL do it from another country. Some of them have gone to Mexico to take advantage of the system there. I know they have been to Ecuador to look at migrating there. !!!Careful what you wish for!!!
Shirley Hulse , you and people with your attitude and lack of true knowledge had best do a retallity check or you could be the only ones left inhabiting Belize. Sounds to (clike you have away too much time on your hands,you may want to spend some of it on trying to curb the serious crime problem that you have in the Jewel,this is what is causing many of the problems you have including keelping several thousand tourits from coming back to visit and spend money.We are some of those that have been coming for 15 years,no more until this problem has been remedied. Oh by the way we(Canadians) have many Mennonite and Hutterite Colonys in Western Canada who just happen to b some of our best citizens and tax paying Farmers. Tks
remember without the mennonite, the locals will not eat, too much lazy people in belize
DON’T HATE THE PLAYERS………HATE THE GAME!!!!
I am sad when people start jumping on the Mennonites for being the hardworking industrious people they are. Yes, we can and should learn from them and from the Chinese and the Indians.However I also find it ridiculous when I read the comments saying we would not eat without the Mennonites. As if Belizeans are simply too helpless to take care of themselves. I remember my mother telling me about her life as a child in the 1930s during the depression when the whole world was starving. She did not even know there was a depression as her family always had more than enough to eat. They were sea people who traded with Belizean farmers in the interior. So do not tell me we cannot do without anyone. Having said that I hope Belizeans will accept anyone who is productive and of goodwill.