Not many Guyanese are aware of heart of palm, and some may be reading about this delectable fare for the very first time. But this product has been around for a very long while, and has been exported by Amazon Caribbean (Guyana) Ltd (AMCAR) for the past 24 years.
AMCAR was founded in 1986, and following the realization of the availability of heart of palm in the forested areas of the North West District, the company constructed a factory at Drumhill in the Barima River, and since 1987 began their exportation of Guyana’s tasty heart of palm. The heart of palm in Guyana is, literally, the heart of the manicole palm, and is scientifically known as “euterpe oleracea”. It is grown in a tall, tough barked graceful palm “cabbage”. It has long been regarded as ‘poor people food’, but it wasn’t long however, before its extreme tenderness and delicacy was noticed, and its name changed from “swamp cabbage” to “millionaires salad”.
Heart of palm, of course, has flourished for thousands of years throughout Central and South America, and is ever-growing in Guyana’s interior locations.
AMCAR’s newly appointed CEO, Jean-Francois Gerin, told Guyana Times Sunday Magazine that at the time of construction of the factory, only a few containers left local shores. It wasn’t until 1992 that they reached maximum export, recording 100 containers.
Six years later, another factory was built in Rosignol, Berbice, and since then the product has been well accepted abroad.
The company has also been certified International Food Standard, and certified organic by Ecocert – the latter, a certifying agency from Europe. Being organic certified means that the palms are not contaminated with pesticides or insecticides.
“We have been certified since 1997, and all this time they have been certifying us, they have been checking every year, making sure that our harvesting process is a renewable resource and a sustainable project; and that is very important for customers in Europe” the CEO disclosed.
In one container there are approximately 32,000 preserved cans of heart of palm. It has a shelf life of 3-5 years and is exported mainly to a “niche market” in Europe. It is used as salads and appetizers and can be steamed, braised, sautéed, boiled stir-fried or baked.
Harvesting
Gerin explained that once the palm is matured, which takes about 3-5 years, harvesters cut the heart of palm (the layer just below the leaves), which is then peeled and processed in the factories to produce the final product.
“Harvesters may use its bark to build their house and flooring for themselves, and build a small roof with the leaves” he noted.
Meanwhile, Gerin said, though their market is very strong and production could be easily doubled, it is decreasing owing to lack of suppliers. These suppliers are mostly members of the Amerindian communities.
The CEO explained that the decrease in production is due to gold mining activities, lumbering, farming, bird catching and rural migration.
“Right now the challenges are due to the change in new and very lucrative activities in these remote areas where there was always a problem of labour because the population is not very large… gold mining especially is one which is pulling a lot of labour in all interior locations; that means we will find our “heart of palm” harvesters shifting to other ventures, and this has a direct effect on production and therefore on the export” Gerin further said.
However, he noted that they are exploring other avenues by encouraging not only male members of a family to harvest, but to also involve female members to benefit from employment, thereby ensuring sustainability for younger members of their families.
This, he noted, is sure to have a positive economic impact, and would provide a wholesome boost for the heart of palm production and exportation, as well as create more employment.
At present, he said they are about 50 persons at each factory with about 20 to 25 hourly employees.
Further, he said, the harvesting of the heart of palm is regulated and closely monitored by the Guyana Forestry Commission as a non-traditional forest product.
The company is permitted not only to harvest in the Barima River but also the Aruka and Kaituma rivers.
Additionally, AMCAR established a factory in Mainstay, Essequibo to process pineapple-a project undertaken between the community of Mainstay and AMCAR.
The palm is described as a self-regenerating herb, which means that the stem naturally re-grows immediately after harvesting. Heart of the palm has no cholesterol, excellent fibre content, hardly any fat content, and is low in calories. (Taken from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
