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Andrés Felipe Rodríguez, Corporate Relations Director; Libardo Enrique Castillo Bolívar, one of the 26 growers; and Karl Lippert, Bavaria’s President are toasting with the commemorative beer produced with domestic barley.
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Bavaria completed the first production of a special beer using feedstock from the development phase of its cereal project; initiative that seeks to recover the commercial and sustainable crops of barley for the brewing process in the country.
The milestone was achieved with a special toast made with the commemorative beverage at the facilities of Cervecería de Tocancipá on December 1st, 2009. Representatives from the agricultural and grower sectors, and Bavaria members attended this event, led by Karl Lippert, Bavaria’s President.
First Phase of the Project
During this experimental phase, Bavaria planted 146 varieties of barley in the Cundinamarca-Boyacá plateau, as well as those varieties imported, which are currently used in the brewing process, including Metcalfe and Scarlett, which grew appropriately at the countryside and performed good in the brewing process.
After the initial trials, 26 growers planted 771 hectares in lots located in Boyacá and Cundinamarca. These growers received free technical assistance, as well as seeds and fertilizers from Bavaria. Out of these 771 hectares, 85% were planted with the Metcalfe variety, 10% with the Scarlett variety, and the remainder 5% with promising materials.
A total of 1,603 tons of barley collected during this first harvest were used for the first production.
Future Challenges
In the long term, this project may become a significant option to develop local vendors, which may be used by Bavaria to replace part of its imports. However, and to continue with this project in the future, several conditions must be fulfilled: international competitiveness – influenced, among others, by factors like exchange rate, agronomy yield, quality, transportation costs, investment in equipment upgrades, sowing scales and economic performance – and the characteristics inherent to the crop – as well as its fitness for brewing, its phyto-sanitary performance, and the availability of areas for crops –.
Bavaria is still looking for growers who can contribute to identifying 3,000 hectares by February 2010.
This project is carried out with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Corpoica and Fenalce.
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PRESS RELEASE
01 DEC 2009
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