The distillery unit of Darshana Carew and Company Sugar Mills in Chuadanga has made profit at tk 100 crore this year but other five units of the mills have incurred losses.
The distillery unit manufactures country spirit, rectified spirit (original), rectified spirit (homeo), denatured spirit, absolute alcohol and liquor. The produced items have been sold at tk. 367 crore in Dhaka, Chattogram and Darshana Markets. About tk. 100 crore has been made profit. Due to the high demand and quality of alcohol, revenue from the distillery unit of the company has been increasing every year that are being paid to government by mill authority.
It is learnt that the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s government of Bangladesh nationalized the mills including distillery in 1973. The products of distillery unit are famous all over the world from its setting up. Besides these items hit in the market not only Bangladesh but also other countries. Hand sanitary item of the unit has heavy demand in the markets.
Three by-products are found after extracting sugarcane juice for sugar production, molasses production, and bagasse and press mud. Different products are made from these three by-products. Molasses is the main ingredient in liquor of alcohol production. Alcohol is made after processing yeast with molasses. The unit produced 10,80,000 proof liters of liquor, 26,00,000 liters of country spirit, 8,00,000 liters of denatured spirit. The mills makes the most profit from liquor. The produced liquor bands are-Yellow Level Malted Whiskey, Gold Ribbon Gin, Fine brandy, Cherry Brandy, Imperial Whiskey, Orange Curacao, Tsarina Vodka, Rosa Rum and Old Rum. Fihad Hossain Badsha, general manager of Distillery Unit of the mill said, there are six units of the mills, these are-Distillery Unit, Pharmaceutical Unit, Commercial Farm, Akundabaria Farm, Sugar Production Unit and Composed Fertilizer Unit. Of these units Distillery and Composed fertilizer units have been running in profit. Mosharof Hossain, Managing Director of the mills said, liquor and other products from distillery of the mills are being sold to the consumers through sale centers of Dhaka, Chottogram and Darshana of Chuadanga district.
Vinegar manufactured by Carew and Company (Bangladesh) Ltd, a state-run sugar mill at Darshana in Chuadanga, hit the market in the country to help the ongoing fight against Coronavirus
The company produced 28.88 lakh proof litres of country spirit, 10.88 lakh litres of foreign liquor, rectified spirit 88.10 thousand proof litres, denatured spirit 6.91 lakh proof litres and alcohol 2.48 thousand proof litres.
Three by-products are found after extracting sugarcane juice for sugar production, including molasses, bagasse and press mud. Different products are made from these three by-products.
Molasses is the main ingredient in liquor or alcohol production. Alcohol is made after processing yeast with molasses. The distillery unit has long been a money spinner for the state-owned Carew and Company (Bangladesh) Ltd. But due to massive losses in other units, the sugar mill located in Chuadanga'sDarshana had been incurring losses year after year.
In FY21, Carew and Company earned Tk195 crore in revenue only from liquor, which was Tk38.39 crore more compared to the previous year. Increased sales of hand sanitiser and vinegar contributed to the company's profit in the pandemic year.
However, due to large losses in the company's other units, mainly sugar, its consolidated profit at the end of the year was Tk29.18 crore, which is about Tk20 crore more than in the previous year. Carew and Co is the only government company in Bangladesh that manufactures and sells liquor. However, some other companies sell imported liquor in the country On the other hand, due to the high demand and quality of alcohol, revenue from the distillery department of the company has been increasing every year.
Carew and Co (Bangladesh) Ltd. traces its origin to the distillery established by the British businessman John Maxwell in 1803. The government of Bangladesh nationalized the distillery at Darsana in 1973. The company became Carew and Co (Bangladesh) Ltd. The company produces alcohol and different kinds of spirits from the molasses of sugarcane juice which are by-products of sugar production.
Three by-products are found after extracting sugarcane juice for sugar production, including molasses, bagasse and press mud. Different products are made from these three by-products.
Molasses is the main ingredient in liquor or alcohol production. Alcohol is made after processing yeast with molasses.
Among these, the company makes the most profit from liquor. The company produces nine brands of liquor, including Yellow Level Malted Whiskey, Gold Ribbon Gin, Fine Brandy, Cherry Brandy, Imperial Whiskey, Orange Curaçao, Tsarina Vodka, Rosa Rum and Old Rum. In FY2020-21, the distillery department of the company produced 52.47 lakh proof litres of liquor. It marketed 46.96 lakh proof litres of liquor.
The company produced 28.88 lakh proof litres of country spirit, 10.88 lakh litres of foreign liquor, rectified spirit 88.10 thousand proof litres, denatured spirit 6.91 lakh proof litres and alcohol 2.48 thousand proof litres. It sold a record amount of 1.16 lakh cases of bottled foreign quality liquor in FY2020-21. The company started production of hand sanitisers during the Covid-19 period as demand for this product increased.
During this financial year, it marketed 21,000 litres of hand sanitisers worth Tk1.5 crore.
