British Sugar Background

British Sugar is the leading supplier of sugars to the UK providing more than half the country's sugar requirements. The remainder is met mostly by cane sugar imports from the African, Caribbean and Pacific sugar producing regions of the world.

Approximately 5,000 farmers contract with British Sugar each year to provide more than 7 million tonnes of raw material: sugar beet, which is grown on 125,000 hectares. The country's sugar beet production is concentrated in the eastern counties of England from Lincolnshire down to Essex. The free-draining well structured soils which are predominant in these regions are essential for successful sugar beet husbandry.

British Sugar produces more than 1 million tonnes of white sugar each year from beet. The processing season, known as the 'campaign', usually lasts from September until the end of February.

British Sugar pays around £180 million each year to farmers for their beet; all of which is grown under contract, which assures farmers both a market and an agreed price for their crops.

The productivity of UK beet production has increased dramatically in recent years, due to the successful implementation of a series of initiatives between British Sugar and growers, and is now ranked amongst the most efficient in the EU.

The resulting profitability has placed sugar beet amongst the most financially secure major arable crops in the UK.

Products are continuously under development to enable food manufacturers to develop new brands to satisfy consumer trends and reduce manufacturing costs.

The needs of consumers are met by sister company The Silver Spoon Company.  Under the Silver Spoon brand, they sell around four million packs of sugar every week, making Silver Spoon one of the leading UK food brands.

Producing around 500,000 tonnes of sugar beet feed each year, as well as over 40,000 tonnes of pressed pulp and molasses, British Sugar is amongst the largest manufacturers of animal feed in the UK. Using the brand name Trident within the framework of sister company AB Agri Ltd, these high energy animal feeds are marketed and distributed to more than 20,000 livestock farmers across the UK