According to a Byzantine legend, Helena of Constantinople shipped hundreds of cats from Egypt or Palestine to Cyprus in 328 AD to control venomous snakes that had infested the area around the monastery.  Lately, the World Cat Congress stated that Cyprus cats developed over time in mountainous inner Cyprus from various populations of cats and became large to cope with large prey like rats, big lizards and snakes. Today, Cyprus remain a cat lover island for tourists as well as locals with specific cat lover hotels and several non profit association.

Under the golden sun, C&A Quarries is processing bentonite for cat litter.  Since 1994, the company is exporting final product in bulk and packed form to leading European suppliers.  One of the applications of the bentonite is cat litter absorbent.  The product comes in granular form in three different qualities. 100% sundried, the final product bear a much smaller CO2 impact than North American competitors.  C&A Quarries use sun to dry the bentonite in an effort to prioritize the maintenance of minimum environmental impact and implementation of sustainable development methods.  The production is about 60,000 tons with 26 workers for an annual turnover of about EUR 5,000,000.  The main export markets are the Netherlands, France, the UK and Northern Ireland.  Of course, C&A Quarries also sells its products locally in Cyprus, an obvious cat’s heaven.

 

Dominique Huret ist a Journalist with Cape Decision based in Belgium. She can be contacted at CapeDecision.com, dominique@capedecision.com