Side Effects * Public health, Protection of the environment, Economy

Grogue

Side effects

"Doing instead of preaching" is our motto. Here we would like to introduce you to our contributions to public health, to protection of the environment and to the economy, which are positive side effects of our project.

*Public health

In many cases the traditional knowledge about the production of sugar cane brandy got lost.
The result of this is, that, for example, people distillate too fast and that good and bad substances are not separated. Also within the fermentation mistakes are made, methanol and over all acetates, that are very damaging to health, are created.
If one knows the biological processes, one can already avoid these health-damaging substances during the fermentation; the rest that still remains in the fermented juice is then separated during the process of destillation.

*Protection of the environment

Everything that is combustible, is being burned here in Cape Verde.
The effect is, that valuable fertilizers get lost. Artificial fertilizers do not have trace elements which are very important though. Also the soils become weak, the result is high evaporation, the soil saves not enough water and important nutrients are taken too deep into the soil during the irrigation so the plant cannot reach these nutrients anymore.
We will hackle the sugar cane straw (Palha) and convert it to compost. Out of the pressed sugar cane (Bagaço) we are producing forage by milling it. The cows' excrement then serve to produce biogas which we will use for the distillation.
The left-overs of the the biogas-production is valuable liquid fertilizer and could be integrated, after a certain treatment, into a drop-by-drop irrigation system.

*Economy

The price of sugar cane brandy here in Cape Verde declines more and more. Following the rules of a market economy the price declines when the production is higher than the demand.
There also exists an overproduction by using beet sugar - but according to my analyses the demand declined clearly. Rather imported liquor is consumed, than the native sugar cane brandy of inferior quality.
One solution would be to develop new markets, another, which I think is the better one, would be to augment the pourcentage of the national consumption in the way that people again prefer to consume a national over an imported product.
According to my researches the national needs of spirituous beverages could never be covered by national production, that means that Grogue producers could achieve that the capeverdean consumer prefers the national product over the imported and that in that way the demand rises, so that the production satisfies the economic expectations.
This can be achieved with a high quality but overall with a variety of spirituous beverages within the national production.
We are also cutting production costs clearly which is in the end a very important factor of economy. By economical use of the waste products (the sugar cane straw and the pressed sugar cane are converted and with that profits are made) we are making profits and create qualified jobs.