There is a new brand of milk on the market, and it is called MY MILK. Furthermore, it is 100 per cent Barbadian owned and operated.
The MY MILK commercial brand, which is the ???first fruits??? of a collaboration between, the Jackman and Mullin families, offers the consumer a wide range of milk and milk-based products, fruit juices and concentrates that are wholesome, natural, authentic and sourced in the Caribbean Basin.
At the official launch of the MY MILK products last Saturday at the Bagnall Point Gallery, Pelican Village, Director of Cyman Food Limited, Kenneth Mullin and Ray Jackman of East Point Dairies Inc., who have over 40 years??? experience between them in dairy and mixed farming, agro-processing, food technology and quality control, said it was a rarity in Barbados today to find an innovative Barbadian company which was wholly owned and controlled by Barbadians.
Expressing concern over the direction that the local dairy industry was heading in particular with their milk, Mr. Mullin said the idea to launch the product range was not intended to compete against the already existing players in the market.
???We did some trials and we found that we could process milk. We found that we had quite [a] good uptake for the market???People liked the fact that we were processing milk in a way that retained a lot of its natural flavour??? rich, creamy and different from what people had become accustomed to over the past couple of years??????
Industry Minister, Donville Inniss, who lauded the initiative, said he was very happy to see a business ???that has been passed on from generation to generation,??? while adding, ???too many businesses in Barbados die with the first founders.???
He went on to say that the agro-processing industry was ???very key??? to Barbados and it was a topic that was not discussed often.
???I, certainly, believe that there are tremendous benefits in having a vibrant agro-processing industry here in Barbados???Certainly, in terms of the number of jobs that we create, as I believe that we can find very sustainable work in that particular industry as well. It is also very critical to the development of the agricultural sector.???
Stressing that it made no sense to only have farmlands, animals and land to grow for food cultivation, Mr. Inniss pointed out that the value that is added via the agro-processing industry would certainly help to build a strong agricultural sector in Barbados on the whole.
???This also, of course, brings to the fore a high level of creativity and innovation. Who would have thought growing up that you could have mauby and milk together???This is a classic example of the level of innovation and creativity that abounds in this society???and this is well captured in the variety of flavours of milk that we have???I believe that the younger generation in particular, will find this [product] to be very exciting, very tasty and certainly for us as parents, it is one way that we can get our children to consume a glass of milk every day as is required,??? the Minister remarked.
MY MILK has flavours in ginger root, mauby, pure vanilla extract and the original cocoa from the islands. The brand also includes a Maya Mauby Syrup.
theresa.blackman@barbados.gov.bb