Government extends support to local producers of alternatives to wheat flour to encourage domestic production.
This is being done through the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Accordingly, funding under the Grant Fund Facility will now be made available for 75%, up to maximum of TT$340,000.00 of the cost of new machinery and equipment being acquired to manufacture alternatives to wheat flour.
The Ministry anticipates grant funding will create opportunities for new producers of flour using alternative sources, particularly locally-sourced root-crops, as well as bring about an increase in the overall production of alternatives to wheat flour.
These include coconut, sweet potato, dasheen, cassava, breadfruit, plantain and pigeon peas flour, and other non-locally sourced options such as, oat flour and cornmeal/corn flour.
The initiative complements the current efforts of the National Marketing Development Corporation, which continues to encourage the public to use root-crop flour as an alternative to wheat flour.
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