A day in a raw sugarcane liquor factory in Haiti | PHOTOS

CAP-HAÏTIEN — Under the gray, cloud-draped sky of a December morning, 8-year-old Anderly Charles clambered atop a towering mound of sugarcane peels. The mountain shifted slightly under his small frame as he grabbed a handful, then nimbly made his way back down, his task done for the moment.

Anderly is one of many children growing up steeped in the rhythms of the sugarcane liquor business in this small village six miles from Cap-Haïtien. Known for its rich tradition of liquor-making, Breda-Kadouch is home to about 25 gildiv—the Creole term for small liquor factories—where the smell of fermenting sugarcane lingers in the air and generations work to keep the craft alive.

Anderly’s father, Rony Charles, watched his son stride away with the chunk of sugar cane peels. Charles also used to help with a gildiv when he was a child. 

After working for other people for eight years, Charles, 55, started his own gildiv in 2009. Charles is going through his darkest times since opening his gildiv with business slowing down by 50% in the past few years. 

Charles used to welcome clients from all over the country but people are afraid to travel from or past Port-au-Prince because of its gang-infested streets. Despite this major setback, Charles is still carrying through with his gildiv. 

“I love it,” Charles said about making raw liquor. “You’re in it since when you were a child, so everybody here wants to make it as a career. Our soil can plant a lot of things, but we choose sugarcane. With it, we make good money.”

The raw liquor-making business is most profitable during the holiday season in December. Revelers consume large quantities of alcoholic beverages. They also give sugarcane liquors as gifts to family members, loved ones, and to lwa, or spirits, gildiv owners said.

“Back in the days, around this time, there wouldn’t be any liquor left in here,” Jean Decius, 71, said as he sat in Charles’ gildiv. “Those times are gone now. This type of business is near extinction. We’re fighting to keep it alive. It’s not a good business.”

Decius, who lives about five minutes from Charles, also owns a gildiv, but it has been out of operation for two years due to a lack of funds and clients.

While Decius spoke, sugarcane juice boiled in a distiller system made of two tall cylinders connected with a tube in Charles’ gildiv. Charles is desperately fighting to keep the sugarcane liquor business, a staple in Haiti’s culture, alive.

Here are some images from a day of work at Charles’ gildiv.

The post A day in a raw sugarcane liquor factory in Haiti | PHOTOS appeared first on The Haitian Times.

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A day in a raw sugarcane liquor factory in Haiti | PHOTOS was first posted on January 7, 2025 at 11:33 am.