International Accolades: Five Banks DIH Flagship Brands Capture Monde Selection Gold Quality Awards
By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – Guyana’s premier food and beverage conglomerate, Banks DIH Limited, has been thrust into the global manufacturing spotlight. At a celebratory press conference hosted at the company’s iconic Thirst Park headquarters on Thursday, executives announced that five of its flagship beverage lines have officially secured the prestigious Monde Selection International Gold Quality Award.
The achievement stands as one of the world’s most rigorous independent product-quality validations. Crucially, the milestone directly coincides with Banks DIH’s upcoming 70th Anniversary celebrations, which are being observed under the historic theme, “Celebrating the Origins of Our Heritage.”
A Scientific Benchmarking Process
Established in Brussels, Belgium, in 1961, the International Monde Selection Institute evaluates consumer products from across the globe against demanding sensory, chemical, and laboratory criteria.
The evaluation panel—composed of credentialed master brewers, food scientists, and international chemical engineers—subjects each blind entry to a comprehensive diagnostic grid, assessing raw production methodologies, taste profile consistency, bacteriological safety controls, and overall consumer satisfaction. To achieve a Gold ranking, a product must consistently score between 80% and 89% across all evaluation parameters.
Sonya Forrester, Communications Lead at Banks DIH, noted that the awards provide undeniable proof that domestic manufacturing can fearlessly compete with elite multi-national brands.
“Earning this distinction places our brewing company among an elite club of international manufacturers who successfully cross global quality benchmarks,” Forrester stated. “This standard is not a one-time destination for Banks DIH, but a permanent feature of how our plants operate every single day.”
The Gold Medal Beverage Roster
Banks DIH Brew Master Matthew Kendall introduced the specific beverage formulations that captured the gold medals, emphasizing that the victory belongs to the technical expertise of the Guyanese workforce.
The 2026 Gold Quality Award winners include:
- Banks Beer: The nation’s flagship lager, recognized for its crisp, consistent malt-to-hop ratio.
- Classic Premium Lager Beer: A full-bodied, 5.0% ABV premium beer crafted from two distinct malt varieties to allow a harmonious maturation of flavors.
- Sorrel Shandy: A light, sparkling beverage containing less than 0.9% alcohol that infuses traditional Caribbean hibiscus notes with sharp tropical finishes.
- Malta Supreme Coconut and Ginseng: An innovative, non-alcoholic malt formulation built for all age demographics.
- Malta Supreme Zero Zero (0.0%): A rich, alcohol-free alternative packed with natural Vitamin B, crafted utilizing 100% locally produced Guyanese cane sugar and honey.
“Awards of this high caliber are never accidental,” Brew Master Matthew Kendall asserted defensively. “They are the direct result of scientific precision, disciplined manufacturing, uncompromising quality systems, and the dedication of exceptional people. These are not just product awards—these are national trophies for Guyanese manufacturing excellence.”
Fueling the Creative and Agro-Processing Grid
The international certification arrives during a highly successful operational window for the conglomerate, which has steadily expanded its industrial footprint. Beyond its standard beverage lines, Banks DIH continues to aggressively drive value-added agro-processing by utilizing locally grown Essequibo rice and local sugars in its secondary lines, such as its award-winning D’Aguiar Moscato wine portfolios.
With its production plants achieving strict ISO recertifications, the Thirst Park manufacturer is using this global validation to expand its export pipelines further into North American, European, and wider CARICOM markets. The 70th-anniversary milestone positions the publicly traded titan as a primary anchor of Guyana’s non-oil economic future.
