CAEI grows sugar production by 7 percent and maintains leadership in environmental sustainability

As the Dominican sugar industry registers a growth of 20 percent in the last ten years, the contribution of CAEI Consortium to this expansion can be seen in the fact that the company went from producing 56,000 tons of sugar in in 2010 to more than 155,000 thousand tons of sugar in the harvest that ended in July 2021.  

In the harvest that ended on July 10, the CAEI Consortium produced 155,657 metric tons of sugar, 10,237 tons more than the past harvest, exceeding the previous year's production by 7 percent.  This is the highest sugar production achieved since the company was founded.

“We are grateful for this result that has come about due to the effort and commitment of the CAEI team and all the people and institutions that have supported us. Our objective is to continue maintaining high levels of productivity, as established in the strategic plan in which sustainability is the north star guiding our continuous contributions to the social and economic development of the region,” explained Alberto Potes, Executive Vice President of CAEI.

Mr. Potes said that since 2010, CAEI has shown an increase in agricultural and manufacturing production, as established in the strategic plan.  This plan included the expansion of the agricultural frontier, the modernization of the sugar mill, investments in improving environmental sustainability, the development of value-added businesses, such as the production and sale of 100 percent renewable energy, the planting of energy farms (with more than 30 million trees planted), as well as important investments in the training and enlistment of human capital, succession planning, social contributions to neighboring communities, support to community and provincial organizations, promotion and support with seed capital for micro and family-owned business, and entrepreneurship programs.

During this period, the CAEI Consortium also maintained and reinforced the biosafety protocols established by the country's Ministry of Public Health during the COVID-19 pandemic. CAEI also began a robust vaccination program with the support of the Provincial office of the Ministry of Public Health that has reached more than 90 percent of all workers with two doses of the Sinovac vaccine.  CAEI has also continued to maintain health and safety protocols established from the previous year and highlighted by internal communication campaigns to reinforce awareness amongst workers.

At the same time, CAEI has also expanded the scope of the ISO9001 Quality Management and ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems, with the successful implementation of follow-up audits, covering cultivation, harvesting, processing and commercialization of sugar and its derivatives. 

In 2020, the CAEI Consortium successfully made the transition from the previous standard for health, safety and security at work (OHSAS 18001) to the ISO45001 standard, which strengthens the company’s commitment to zero accidents, both in the fields and in the sugar mill. 

At the same time, the CAEI Consortium also completed the Bonsucro follow-up audit, a certification that shows that the company is socially, environmentally and economically sustainable and that it is committed to continually improving its production and commercialization process. 

“CAEI continues to be an important contributor to the creation of jobs with more than 5,500 workers, generating foreign exchange to the country for more than US$30 million. We continue to contribute to sustainability with our practices focused on circular economy, producing 100 percent renewable energy, planting more than 30 million trees with which we capture more than 90 thousand tons of carbon dioxide per year, all of which makes us a consortium of innovative companies and partners of great value for our environment,” said Josefina Dieguez, Director of Sustainability of the CAEI Consortium.

The CAEI Consortium is a group of companies, which includes La Finca Unidad and San Pedro BioEnergy, within the portfolio of assets managed by Putney Capital Management, a firm affiliated with INICIA.