…all outlets temporarily closed; significant losses recorded
All Bruster’s Ice Cream locations in Guyana have been temporarily closed as the company experiences a cold storage malfunction.
In a public notice, the company said that due to a cold storage malfunction all of the outlets will be temporarily closed until further notice.
The notice stated that the company, recently encountered a critical issue with their cold storage facilities that compromised their perishable inventory. The suspected cause of this malfunction was said to be a result of the prolonged erratic power supply in the area, which most likely damaged the cold storage equipment resulting in significant losses.
Bruster’s locations at Amazonia Mall and MovieTowne
According to the notice, the company said it is taking immediate actions to repair damaged equipment and replace the discarded inventory. The company said that it is aiming to resume service on April 20. The Bruster’s Ice Cream franchise has been in operation in Guyana for the past 12 years following the opening of its doors on May 12, 2012 offering over 200 ice cream flavours and has been expanding their menu ever since, providing Guyanese with a plethora of ice cream flavours.
Impact on local businesses
Speaking with Guyana Times on Sunday about the impact of the current Guyana Power and Light woes is having on local businesses, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Kester Hutson, said that businesses are “coping even in the challenges right now. There is nothing that can be done. Some companies have backup generators and they trying with that, I know the costs will increase because they have to purchase more fuel now.”
He said that in general there are some businesses that are not operating at 100 per cent capacity because the electricity supply has not been 100 per cent efficient.
It is for this reason, Hutson added, that the GGCI, has been very supportive of the government and pushing for the gas to energy project.
“…because we recognized that we need reliable and efficient generate a higher demand…Guyana growing very fast, both commercial and residential areas, so the supply is much greater and we want cheaper electricity,” Hutson said, adding that there have been power issues since November 2023 because of mechanical challenges with the current generators and the increasing demand.
“So the government had recognised that there is an issue, the government with the Chamber had the address, the chamber that had invited Public Works, and its team to come and present what is happening with reliability or inefficiency and that they would have explained fully what was happening, what the challenges were and what the plan was to resolve it. Those plans were pretty much to procure and install generators. That process has begun, not all have been installed…what is happening right now is the existing generators are giving mechanical problems, so while installing new generators the existing generators are giving issues. So, the frequency of maintenance has increased,” Hutson added.
He said that there are no “heavy complaint because we try to sensitise our members as much as possible. So, nobody comes around and say that they didn’t know. We do a lot of advocacy work, as information come from the government we inform our members.”
