Sugaright: Celebrating 15 Years!
“I had a dream of becoming a sugar refiner and doing it differently than anyone else”.
Paul Farmer, CEO CSC Sugar/Sugaright
Prior to 2006, there had been no substantial innovation in the US cane sugar refining industry. for decades. A handful of large, legacy companies dominated the field. The color specifications for refined sugar embedded in the major US food companies were water white. To make this water white sugar required an enormous investment in refining equipment which created a huge barrier to entry for anyone else trying to compete in this space.
Believing that challenge equals opportunity, in 2006 CEO Paul Farmer approached a company making sweetened condensed milk with a new idea. " Could their product take a higher colored liquid sugar without any negative impact on the finished product?" The cost savings were compelling to this company. Specifications were changed, and our first two plants were built in El Paso, TX and in Joplin, MO.
On July 3, 2006 the first delivery was made from our El Paso facility. Fifteen years later, Sugaright continues to deliver to this customer.
Once CSC realized that if one food product could accept higher color, then why not others? And so, we challenged the industry to “Change the Way They Think About Sugar”. Using only a fraction of the energy and water used by the legacy refineries, CSC introduced Sugaright liquid sugar to the market in a range of colors. Innovative and sustainable food companies responded positively to this lower cost and more earth-friendly alternative to water white sugar. Sugaright 350 became the industry standard for almost all dairy products and non-dairy creamers and beverages in just a few years. Confectionary, beverage, cereal, condiments and bakery soon followed.
To fill this growing demand, Sugaright (the refining division of CSC Sugar) expanded by building micro-refineries that no longer just melted higher color sugar but refined higher quality raw sugar into liquid sugar. What was once a little lab in an office building grew to a team of top-notch quality, safety and engineering professionals so new technologies could be tested and implemented safely and with the highest attention to food quality.
However, our vision of “doing it differently than anyone else” did not just stop at the plant doors. Fully embracing our sustainable and lower cost model, we located our refineries close to our major customers taking immeasurable truck miles off the road along with the transportation costs and GHG emissions associated with moving sugar long distances.
Innovation, sustainability, and our laser focused attention to customer needs, are the foundations of the success of our micro-refinery strategy. As we look back to where we were and where we are going, nothing would have been possible without our team of dedicated employees, customers, and suppliers whom we are proud to call our partners on this journey.
To the next 15 years!!!
