.aspx)
Making sugar is a more complicated business than you might think. Especially when you’re the second largest sugar producer in the world. It starts with sugar beet and sugar cane factories. Ours are based in Africa, Spain, North and South China, as well as the UK. Together they produce four million tonnes of sugar annually. But they also create by-products. These have opened the door to many other industries, which means our global operation is incredibly diverse.
For example, the British Sugar Group is involved in a joint venture with BP and DuPont to build a worldscale bioethanol facility in Hull. Operating under the name Vivergo Fuels Ltd, the company is set to produce some 420 million litres of bioethanol each year.
Germain’s Technology Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Sugar Group. It’s the world’s largest supplier of seed coating and seed enhancement products, operating in Europe, Ireland, the US, China and Australasia.
The Czarnikow Group represents another interest. One of the most respected names in agricultural commodity markets; it operates in sugar, biofuels and corporate services, serving customers globally. British Sugar has a 42.5% stake in the business.
Finally, there’s Cornerways Tomatoes. British Sugar is the UK's largest grower of classic round salad tomatoes. The glasshouse at Cornerways Nursery uses the high levels of heat and carbon dioxide produced during sugar production to grow over 80 million 'eco-friendly' tomatoes annually.