Tag: Sugar

Cargill sells stake in Alvean joint venture to Brazilian partner Copersucar

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BRAZIL – Agricultural commodities trading giant, Cargill has agreed to offload its 50% stake in the Alvean sugar trading joint venture to its Brazilian partner and world’s largest sugar and ethanol company, Copersucar. Upon completion of the transaction, Cargill will exit the global sugar trading business, in line with its strategic goal of focusing more on its core food, agriculture, and trading businesses. The agricultural commodities traders however say that it will remain active in both global commodity trading as well as the sugar ingredient business in Brazil, Mexico, and…

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Louis Dreyfus sells US sugar business to focus on global sugar trading business

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US – Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) has agreed to sell the business and assets of Imperial Sugar Company to US Sugar for undisclosed sum in order to focus on its global sugar trading business. Imperial Sugar – which primarily sources raw cane sugar from Central and South America, and the Caribbean – was bought by Louis Dreyfus in 2012 for US$78 million. The company operates a refinery at Port Wentworth in Savannah, Georgia, and a sugar transfer and liquefaction facility in Ludlow, Kentucky in addition to its consumer brands which…

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SweeGen’s latest stevia ingredient Reb B achieves GRAS status

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 US – Food ingredients manufacturer SweeGen has achieved a milestone in the development of its stevia-based sweetener Bestevia Rebaudioside B after the compound received Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status. The company uses what it calls a proprietary bioconversion technology to produce its stevia-based sweeteners. It isolates the Bestevia Reb B from plant’s leaves where it is found in trace amounts. The new offering comes less than a year after SweeGen debuted its Reb I clean label stevia ingredient, targeting dairy, beverage, nutrition bar, confectionery, and savory products. The new…

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Dangote Sugar shuts operations at Niger State over community wrangles

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NIGERIA – The Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc has put a stop to its Backward Integration Project (BIP) in Niger State which was undertaken in collaboration with the state government, due to land acquisition dispute. The joint venture, Dangote Niger Sugar Limited is one of the BIP’s established by the leading sugar miller, alongside Savannah Sugar Company in Numan Adamawa State, Tau Sugar Project in Taraba State and Tunga Sugar Project in Nasarawa State. The initiative is a 10-year sugar development plan aimed to produce 1.5 million metric tonnes per…

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Zimbabwe sugar cane farmers get backing from commercial bank CABS, avails US$2m financing facility

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ZIMBABWE – Zimbabwean commercial bank, CABS has availed a US$2 million financing facility to support sugar cane farmers in the country increase production. According to reports by The Herald, the war-chest is ample to rehabilitate over 1 000 hectares of cane fields to push up yields. Working capital constraints have been one of the key stumbling blocks to efforts by commercial cane farmers to increase yields resulting in depressed output. Zimbabwe earns more than US$70 million annually from sugar exports and increasing yields and the area under cane will boost…

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Nigeria opens first sugar institute to boost productivity, help attainment of self-sufficiency

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NIGERIA – Nigeria has officially inaugurated the country’s first Sugar Institute to facilitate knowledge sharing within the sector, promote productivity which will enable it attain self-sufficiency in production of the commodity and assist the sustenance of the 2017 Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP). The Nigeria Sugar Institute (NSI), located at Kwara state, will develop human resource to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the country’s sugarcane industry by offering regular refresher technical and management courses for staff of sugar companies as well as fresh graduates desiring to make a career in…

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Global tropical fruit processor Frutco partners Fooditive to develop sweetener from banana peels

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SWITZERLAND– Global tropical fruit processor Frutco and plant-based ingredient supplier Fooditive have teamed up to develop a new sweetener line from banana peels in an effort to fight food waste in Europe. The product will be positioned as a sustainable sweetener that can improve health while removing carbon emissions from the supply chain. As part of the collaboration, Fooditive and Frutco are constructing a multi waste- and residues-based biodiesel plant to process banana and tropical fruit side-streams into fruit extracts and sweeteners. The plant will use Fooditive’s continuous fermentation technology…

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Uganda’s sugar exports decline by US$29.2m in three years due to dwindling export market

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UGANDA – Uganda exported sugar worth US$83.39m in the year ended November 2020, a decline from US$95.3m earned in the same period in 2019 and a further drop from 2018’s US$112.7m. Cumulatively, sugar exports in the country have dropped by US$29.2m, representing a 35 per cent decline in earnings in the last three years, according to data from Bank of Uganda. The drop according to Daily Monitor is attributed to occasioned export blockades placed on Uganda’s sugar by East Africa member states on claims of dumping. Other than drop in…

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SweeGen introduces new non-calorific sweetener targeting better-for-you beverages

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US– Maker of sweet taste solutions for food and beverage manufacturers around the world, Sweegen has introduced a new zero-calorie natural stevia molecule to be used in better-for-you beverages. The new product is an addition to SweeGen’s growing list of Bestevia portfolio which comprises Rebs B, D, E, I and M. These Rebs are marketed with clean-label, sustainable and natural positionings that respond to consumers’ label scrutiny. The sweetener Bestevia Rebaudioside N (Reb N) unlike some of its predecessors has a sensory profile that makes it particularly functional in beverage…

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Kenyan county government disburses US$2.7m financing for cane development ahead of reopening of Mumias Sugar Company

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KENYA – The County Government of Kakamega is gearing up for the opening of state-owned Mumias Sugar Company by releasing Ksh300million (US$2.7m) financing to be disbursed to farmers for cane development to ensure the milling company will have sufficient raw materials when it re-opens mid this year. Governor Wycliffe Oparanya said that sugarcane farmers both contracted by state-owned and privately owner sugar factories are eligible for the loan. To ensure proper allocation of the funds, Oparanya has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Commodities Fund Board of Trustees…

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