Tate & Lyle Agrees to Purchase Initial Tonnage from 2014-2015 Sugar Crop

Via Phone: Alfredo Ortega

Last week, Tate and Lyle dropped a bombshell on cane farmers when it wrote to say that it will be buying a minimum of ten thousand tons of fair-trade sugar from the farmers. That's a whopping fifty-five thousand tons less than they did last year. Well tonight, there is sweet news for the farmers because Tate and Lyle today issued a letter to the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association saying that it will proceed to purchase the sixty-five thousand tons of sugar for this crop season�however the chases will come into effect for the 2014-2015 crop season. But they will lobby for them to get a better figure. News Five spoke a while ago with Vice Chairman, Alfredo Ortega.

Via Phone: Alfredo Ortega, Vice Chairman, Committee of Management, B.S.C.F.A.

"What has happened they have sent us a letter clarifying the payment for the sugar that was delivered this year because the letter they sent before said there was going to be changes in regards to payment, This letter clarifies that they will be paying for the sixty-five thousand tons that has been delivered under fair-trade umbrella. The changes will be for next year's 2014-15 crop which they will be changing the scheme of payment. That is for the ton of sugar that has the contract between B.S.I. and Tate and Lyle. They will continue buying sugar from us, the portion that is being slashed is that being bought under the fair-trade umbrella which we receive premium on it. That will have a potential in negative situation to the farmers and to the association because we don't know what will be their scheme. They said in the letter that as soon as they can finalize the payment scheme in which they will be addressing the sugar for all countries next year, they will send us a copy of that. So we need to wait until we see that so we can see what the payment scheme it is that they will be implementing next year. We will lobby with them to see how best we can have an increase rather than just eh ten thousand. And we will tell them how this will negatively impact the farmers and how the situation will create a problem to us in Belize. We will lobby with them to see how best this can be increased so that we don't suffer way down to that amount which they have inidicated."

Channel 5