The Waterford-Mandeville Plantation is a sugar plantation estate established since 1885 in Orange Walk, Belize. The plantation is known for producing in its distillery Old Planteur Rum.
Contents
Early Years
The sugar industry was imported from the Caribbean Islands by the British settlers in what was known as British Honduras.
The Waterford Mandeville family were sent as local administrators for the Crown possessions and started their own business in Orange Walk. The plantation is recorded to be created as a limited partnership in 1885 with the building of a first small plantation house and some dependences including a distillery and a sugar mill.
20th Century
While the activity remained quite limited until the 1940s, rum distillation was the main source of income and the Old Planteur Rum was exported to many countries such as United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand.
In 1998 the plantation was incorporated as a limited company to meet 21st Century trade requirements. The distillery was modernized and a program of enlarging the estate was launched through the purchase of several neighboring smaller estates, totalling in 2015 over 1,680 acres of sugarcane fields.
21st Century
In 2014 the distillery was completely rebuilt with a production capacity of over 10,000 bottles a year.
Since 2013, the plantation has been awarded the gold medal for the Best Brown Rum of Belize by the Independent Belize rum Review.
Ownership
The Waterford-Mandeville Plantation belongs to the Belizean subsidiary of the global Waterford Mandeville Estate, where are vested the business interests of the Waterford Mandeville Family. The current Chairperson and Director is Sir Thierry Waterford-Mandeville, KLJ.
Logo
The plantation uses the coat of arms of the Waterford-Mandeville Family as a trademark.