Belizeans love soy sauce on all that Chinese food we eat….but what about making soy sauce?

That's the aim of a new project in northern Belize - making soy sauce out of soy beans which grow easily in Belize. The Ministry of Agriculture Central Farm Agro processing unit in collaboration with Taiwan's Agricultural Mission is currently hosting a three day practical training in processing soy sauce.

This training goes along with production of soybeans is being implemented in Corozal and Orange Walk. The practical training will cover basic procedure from handling, cooking, fermenting until the final process of the material. A total of 10 women groups both from Orange walk and Corozal district are participating in the training.

Channel 7

from friends....

On the evening news there was an exciting video interview shown on the new prototype SOY SAUCE development. Do not know where it is. But a thatched roofed, cement floor building with a lot of stainless steel big pots, to boil and mix ingredients by hand ladels, to make SOY SAUCE. The cooperative women in the project, being taught by the Taiwanese Chinese mission were excited about making and bottling SOY SAUCE. They said we import $1 million worth of SOY SAUCE a year. So there was a viable business. They were fermenting some kind of beans, adding incredients like LECITIN, and other stuff that goes into SOY SAUCE. A true developmental enterprise. Loved to see it. Maybe they can export to Mexico and Guatemala?

KUDOS TO THE TAIWANESE MISSION

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yes, the soy sauce project is very exciting, I know we'll be first in line to try the new product when it arrives on shelves in Cayo.

the project is happening up in Corozal and Orange Walk, and involves 10 womens' groups from different villages and towns... Chunox, San Antonio, Santa Cruz, San Felipe and others.

oh, and the beans are soy beans, of course <lol>

Nice!

BELIZEAN SOY SAUCE LAUNCHED

One of the main objectives of Taiwan's technical mission established under "The Agricultural Technology Cooperation Agreement" signed back in 1990, is the development of food products that have market potential. Since that agreement Taiwan has assisted Belizean farmers in Rice seed and Vegetable production, training in Aquaculture technology and papaya exportation. More recently the Taiwanese have been lending their expertise in the production of one of their signature condiment, Soy sauce! And the main players being trained in its development and production here in Belize, SINCE LAST YEAR, are a group of dedicated women from the north. Today, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Cooperative in collaboration with the Technical Mission of the Republic of China Taiwan launched its Belizean Soy Sauce project in the Orange Walk district.

Charles Bacab, Coordinator Agro Processing
"The soy sauce project is a project which was design to reduce importation and also to add value to agriculture products. Therefore it is targeting a number of women who will benefit by increasing their household income."

Hon. Rene Montero
"This project will create also a market for those farmers who are producing soy beans because they will be selling the soy beans to the women groups and the women will be converting it into a soy sauce. Today we start on a small scale but in the next year or so we expect that it will grow up 5 fold because the market for soy sauce and the quality of the soy sauce as you can see it is of good quality."

Charles Bacab, Coordinator Agro Processing
"I think that we are on the right track with these women that we are working with because they are very active and very dedicated and I would like to encourage them to do this. If we continue like this in 4 year's time we are going to meet our target which is to reduce importation of soy bean sauce at least by 50%. That means they we are going to cover about 250,000 pounds of soy beans. Addition to this it means that the farmers at the farm level will have more money because they will sell their soy bean. We are going to used more than 150,000 pounds of soy bean - that is equivalent to 120 acres of soy bean."

Hon. Rene Montero
"I just want to tell the women that I give them thanks for their courage to really face this challenge and also tell them that they are not alone and that we will continue to work along with them to give them all the resources that they need in terms of technical advice in capacity building and any other resource that they may need. We believe in projects like these because these projects especially when it involves women it will really create another venue for creating employment and generating some income so that the women and their families can improve their standard of living."

Those who attended the official launching today, were treated to Lunch with the new Belizean Soy Sauce called WOW!. The four year project is estimated to cost almost a quarter million Belize dollars.

Channel 7

LOCAL SOY SAUCE PUT ON MARKET

After almost a year of hard work and dedication the 9 women groups involved in the soy sauce project finally got to see their product bottled and being marketed. The project is being carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and the ROC Technical Mission.

Rene Montero – Minister of Agriculture “This soy sauce project was initiated in the year 2010 and has a total cost of $110,000.00 US over a four year period. This venture started with a group of very dedicated and active women in Orange Walk District and was extended shortly thereafter to the Corozal District where other women were given the opportunity to participate in this invaluable project. This included some 100 women from each district. The Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with the ROC provided technical expertise for its implementation and its success. The participants were trained on the successful production of soy sauce in all its stages on a very small scale. This will give rise to many opportunities that will not only benefit the women however we expect that the men will be supporting their women in this project.” By the end of the fourth year Belize should be importing 50% less soy sauce products than it does today.

Charles Bacab - National Agro Processing Coordinator “We import about 500,000 pounds of soy sauce and we consume everything. We are in the process of producing at least10,000 pounds right now of the final product but we are supposed to increase it to cover at least 50% of the importation, that is about 250,000 pounds in the next four years.”

Over the next few months market research will be carried out to determine the products potential on the local market. If the project is successful, a micro loan program will be introduced by the Taiwan Government to provide financing for the establishment of a soy sauce production facility. In the mean time the women will continue to receive training in Food handling, standards, quality assurance, food safety, business management, basic accounting and entrepreneurship.

LOVEFM