FEDA inaugurates the first National Candy Festival Baní 2023; announces the promotion of agribusiness in Peravia
The Special Fund for Agricultural Development (FEDA) inaugurated the first Baní 2023 National Candy Festival in the municipal district of Paya, a community declared the “Candy Capital” of the Dominican Republic.
During the event, the director of FEDA, Hecmilio Galván, announced that a series of initiatives will be promoted to promote the agro-industrialization of Peravia, especially with fruits such as mango and sweets.
The Festival del Dulce will promote agrotourism in favor of the province of Peravia and will benefit the livestock farmers who provide the milk to make the sweets, as well as the fruit producers who will industrialize their surplus with sweets, jams and juices.
The FEDA director also launched a proposal for the candy manufacturers to create a national association of candy producers, to defend the candy, to recognize the candy and to guarantee support for the Dominican candy factories, because the candy is not only a dessert, but an industry that generates employment, generates wealth and develops the people.
The official affirmed that “in any corner of the country there is a woman or a man who is dedicated to candy making, sweetening the lives of the people, but above all making a living with this activity”.
Galván also stressed that “the candy sector had never been taken into account in the Dominican Republic and that the Paya Candy Festival vindicates the contribution of women entrepreneurs who make candy all over the country”.
During the inauguration, a posthumous recognition was made to Mrs. Lucila Baez, for being the person who started the tradition of Paya’s sweets. This recognition was received by her great-grandson, who said he was proud of the recognition given to his great-grandmother 100 years later, for the activity that today is a tourist attraction of the province.
The Festival del Dulce de Baní was supported by the Dirección de Ganadería, Conaleche, the Cluster Turístico Productivo de Baní, the Ministry of Agriculture, Confenagro, Cámara de Comercio y Producción de Peravia and the Regional Center of the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo in Baní.
During the Festival, different varieties of milk, coconut and cashew sweets were offered, as well as jams and other varieties of sweets from Baní. In addition, agricultural products and handicrafts of the area, training workshops, talks, animal presentations, cultural, handicrafts and sweets contest, as well as tastings of these, were offered by the Dominican Association of Gastronomy.
Source: Presidencia.gob.do