To expand its local sourcing footprint SP Brewery has launched a new project with the Papua New Guinea Government to develop cassava farms to provide brewing ingredients.

SP Brewery Managing Director Stan Joyce and DAL Department Secretary Dr Vele Pata Ila’ava launch the cassava project. Credit: SP Brewery.

South Pacific (SP) Brewery Ltd is investigating local alternatives that would help break the long-time tradition of importing malt for brewing in Papua New Guinea.

With the PNG Department of Agriculture & Livestock, SP Brewery has launched a cassava project in Morobe Province which has the potential to provide starch for beer manufacturing.

The company is engaging thousands of farmers throughout PNG in small-scale projects where they will grow and sell cassava to the starch factory. The brewery would then buy the starch required for beer from the factory.

Despite cassava being a staple in the diet of Papua New Guineans, SP Brewery had not previously considered cassava as an ingredient for brewing until it explored the possibility of a project involving the plant as a way of increasing its local sourcing footprint.

Cassava. Credit: Seraphina Aupong – EMTV

SP Brewery is also hopeful that the project will deliver a welcome boost to the country’s agriculture sector beyond providing a key ingredient for the brewing process.

The company is engaging thousands of farmers throughout PNG in small-scale projects where they will grow and sell cassava to the starch factory. The brewery would then buy the starch required for beer from the factory.

A central cassava nursery at Erap Station in Morobe Province is being developed as a base for the project.

Key role in PNG

‘Cassava has been part of the diet in PNG for thousands of years–there are over 600 varieties of cassava in PNG,’ SP Brewery Managing Director Stan Joyce told Business Advantage PNG.

‘There is potentially the opportunity to use cassava in our brewing mix. Part of the project was to identify which varieties are actually the best for a long-term starch project.”

Joyce said SP Brewery would be growing its research and development capability as the project expands by tapping into global expertise in establishing local sourcing ventures such as this in developing nations.

SP Lager, an alcoholic favourite in PNG for over 60 years.

He added that the PNG Government was eager to be involved with the project and would look at expanding the program further if it proved successful.

‘The project will possibly be used beyond beer. That’s part of the reason why we liked cassava.

‘In places like Thailand, the world’s biggest producer, it is used more broadly in baker’s flour and stock feed. We have similar hopes for PNG as well,’ Joyce said.

‘The project ticks all the boxes for the PNG Government: downstream processing, rural activation, and import replacement. It’s a case of: why would you not want to do it?

Broader potential

Joyce said there was the potential for a broader project that would produce about 35,000 tonnes of starch each year.

‘More importantly a broader project could potentially support upwards of 20,000 PNG families with an income,’ Joyce explained.

‘It’s drought-resistant; if there is no rain, the plant will stop growing but not die—it is robust.’

Department of Agriculture and Livestock Department Secretary Dr Vele Pat Ila’ava said projects such as this were important for PNG, as 85% of the population depended on agriculture for food and income.

‘The project will possibly be used beyond beer. That’s part of the reason why we liked cassava.’

‘At the growth rate of 2.5% to 3%, by 2050 the population will be about 22 to 23 million. Agriculture will still be very prominent and very significant in the lives of our people,’ Dr Ila’ava said.

The nursery at Erap Station will become the source of cassava cuttings for distribution to farmers in Markham, Huon Gulf and Nawaeb districts in Morobe.