The Story of Sugar

From time to time, you will read items about "sugar" on this site. The history of the role of sugar in the development of the America's is endlessly facinating. Our town of Crockett has been part and parcel of the sugar industry since 1897.

Sugar is made by some plants to store energy that they don't need straight away, rather like animals make fat. People like sugar for its sweetness and its energy so some of these plants are grown commercially to extract the sugar. Sugar is produced in 121 Countries and global production now exceeds 120 Million tons a year. Approximately 70% is produced from sugar cane, a very tall grass with big stems which is largely grown in the tropical countries. The remaining 30% is produced from sugar beet, a root crop resembling a large parsnip grown mostly in the temperate zones of the north. Historically, sugar was only produced from sugar cane and then only in relatively small quantities. This resulted in it being considered a great luxury, particularly in Europe where cane could not be grown. The history of man and sugar is a subject in its own right but suffice to say that, even today, it isn't easy to ship food quality sugar across the world so a high proportion of cane sugar is made in two stages. Raw sugar is made where the sugar cane grows and white sugar is made from the raw sugar in the country where it is needed. Beet sugar is easier to purify and most is grown where it is needed so white sugar is made in only one stage.