ONE of the country's biggest alcohol producers - Paradise Beverages (Fiji) Ltd - is putting molasses to good use.

The company, which purchases molasses from the Fiji Sugar Corporation, is using the sugarcane by-product to produce its new line of Vodka spirits, Katia Vodka.

The new alcoholic drink was launched in the Western Division last week.

Paradise Beverages (Fiji) Ltd acting general manager Mike Spencer said using molasses was ideal for the company.

"You can make vodka from any product that contains starch.

"We are next door to the Fiji Sugar Corporation and when they make sugar they also make molasses.

"We brew the molasses, ferment it, distil it and then make our own vodka."

He said the company had a quality and established distillery that was able to produce some internationally renowned products.

"Once you have a great distillery you can basically make alcohol from anything," he said.

"We have the best rum in the world and once you have a great distillery you can make gin, you can make whiskey and now we are making vodka.

"Compared to rum, vodka is a lot easier to make so what we've done is we spent a year developing this product and it is a fantastic vodka.

"Later on this year we are actually going to start making Fijian whiskey because once you have a distillery you can basically make any alcohol that you want."

He said another reason for producing locally produced vodka was because of the growing demand for the spirit.

"Vodka is one of the biggest growing spirits in the world particularly for young people.

"Once you go to a duty-free you will see that probably half the spirits are vodka.

"There's hundreds of different varieties of vodka and that is what our younger generations like.

Read more at source: Fiji Times Online