Information about Sugar in the Raw

( 1 Vote ) Production

Sugar in the Raw is grown in Maui, Hawaii, by Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company (HC&S), on over 37,000 acres of land. [1111] The company constructed its own irrigation system which collects clean mountain rain water from the eastern side of the island and transports it to the center of the island. Their irrigation system, which consists of over 84 miles of both ditches and tunnels, allows the daily transfer of around 165 million gallons of water. An additional benefit is that it also supplies water to around 20,000 island residents and farmers. [4444]

The first step involved in production of this sugar is that the sugar cane has to be planted. The company uses seed cane that comes from immature cane. Seed cane is a certain segment of the sugar cane stem that can be used to grow a new cane plant. The seed cane is first dipped into a fungicide which prevents various funguses from growing and also increases the chances of germination occurring. The seed canes are then placed into the ground by manual labor, explain later, due to the fact that terrain which prevents mechanization. [9999]

The company does use various chemicals to insure that the crops can grow. However, they only use chemicals at the initial growing stages of the sugar cane to keep the weeds in check. The reason is that after a 4 to 5 month period, the sugar cane will be big enough to out-compete the weeds. Instead of using insecticides, they use the insect’s natural predators as a biological control. In the case of the mosquito, they do use chemicals in order to control mosquitoes. However, the company does work alongside the Department of Health to face the mosquito issue. [9999]

The following step is the harvesting of sugarcane from the fields. Most of the harvesting is done by manual labor because of the location that the sugar cane is grown. The areas used to grow sugar cane mostly consist of both rocky land and slopes that are sleep. This particular terrain does not allow for the mechanization. [9999]

The company is very environmentally friendly in regards to how they treat the crop land. As previously mentioned, they transport water via tunnels to water their fields. Of course, there are wells located on the fields; however these wells do not provide the required amount of water that is needed. Their transpiration of the mountain water allows the refilling of the watershed that would otherwise dry up. In addition, the water gathered is used to prove water to the 1/5 of the community. [9999]

Another reason is in regards to how the company grows and utilizes the sugar cane plant. The company is able to able to use the entire sugar cane plant which results in them not needing to throw out any waste. First, the harvested sugar cane is pressed and the resulting extract, liquid sugar, is collected. The remaining fiber or byproduct, called bagasse, is sent to a nearby power plant. Where it is burned and used to produce stream that is then transformed into electricity. This electricity provides 100% of the power needed by the sugar plant. The surplus of electricity is put back into the energy grid via Maui Electric Company. [9999]

One could argue that only having one crop is bad for the land. However in this particular case, it could not be further from the truth. The reason is that sugar cane has a high degree of biomass production that allows the cane to be used in various areas. [3333] In addition, sugar cane has less water requirements in comparison to corn. According to company, sugar cane uses 164 lbs less water than corn in the production of dry matter. [9999]

Another source states that the difference between the two is that sugar cane requires 70 liters less to produce bio-ethanol. [8888] Yes, these figures are not really comparable but I have not been able to find any information that either confirms nor denies the companies claim that sugarcane requires less water than that of corn.

The company also burns its fields, per growing cycle which could last up to two years, to remove any dry leaves. The reasoning behind this is that the burning allows the company to save both labor and production costs. One must not forget that the burning of fields can also be looked at as a way to reintroduce vital nutrients back into the soil.

After the extraction, the liquid sugar is heated to convert the extracted liquid into a crystalline form. Once the crystals are formed, it is put into a centrifuge like machine to spin the newly formed crystals. The purpose of the spinning is to remove any remaining moisture and molasses. The resulting product comes out in relatively large, amber colored crystals. [2222]

In 2009, the company was able to produce 126,000 tons of sugar. This is was a 13% decrease from the previous year because they are still feeling the ongoing effects of a severe drought that occurred between 2007 and 2008. [1313] The production of this specific sugar seems to be is entirely self reliant, in regards to that it is sustainable closed loop system. However, this closed system is no longer a closed system when the product has to be distributed and sold in various locations in the United States. The product needs to travel thousands of miles to reach its final destination, thus one could argue that transpiration involved removes the “green” aspect of this particular sugar.

Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar (HC&S) has partnered with Sugar Foods and Cumberland to sell Sugar in the Raw throughout the United States. Sugar Foods and Cumberland Packing Corporation provide the services that HC&S do not have in regards that the two mentioned companies do the product packaging, marketing and the distribution. Sugar in the Raw is only available at the retail and wholesale level within the United States. [5555]

Cumberland Packing Corporation is located in Brooklyn, NY. So it seems that they provide Sugar in the Raw to the eastern half of the United States. [6666] Sugar Foods has three locations with two being in California, City of Commerce and Sun Valley, while their third plant in Villa Rica, Georgia. It would seem that Sugar Foods provides the distribution in the western half of the United States. [7777]



Social

Between the 1450s and the 1900s it is believe that around 20 million slavers were relocated from Africa to the Americans. The 20 million includes the slaves who survived or died during the journey across the ocean, died or were injured as a result of being sold into the slave markets and those who were indirectly affected by the slave market. [1010]

Sugar cane played a role in the slave trade because it was a crop that was very labor intensive. During this period, it was believed that white men were unable to perform physical tasks in sugar collection due to the fact that sugar thrived in tropical climates that made work difficult. [1010]

While researching the past of sugar, people will learn that sugar has been tied to the issue of slavery for hundreds of years. However, in the case of Sugar in the Raw, there does not appear to be any remaining issues in regards Slavery. In fact, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar has been doing quite the opposite. They pay wages to their field workers that are very competitive. In some cases, the workers are paid more than they would receive in the open market for an entry level position. [1212]

Since the 1960s, the company has been training and treating their workers quite well. The reason for this is that the company uses technology and equipment that is highly sophisticated that requires their workers to be highly skilled. The company’s training facility allows several hundred workers to be trained in the areas that the workers prefer. The training also provides the field operators the knowledge needed to operate the various machines. [9999]

Technological

During the 1800s it was only possible to extract 50% of the liquid sugar from the sugar cane plant. In order to produce 1 ton of sugar, it meant that the plantation had to grow and harvest 20 tons of cane. It took 5 tons of wood to produce 1 ton of sugar. The resulting byproduct, bagasse, did not serve any purpose and was considered a waste product. [1010]

The development of the centrifugal in 1837 was the invention that truly revolutionized the sugar industry. This new technology produced a sugar that was much drier. The drier sugar allowed it to be packaged and transported in bags instead of more costly barrels. The use of bags as sugars packaging allowed more sugar to be stored on steamships. [1010]

Today sugar companies like Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar are able to use the entire sugar cane plant. As a result, there is less material that is not fully used. First, the harvested sugar cane is pressed and the resulting extract, liquid sugar, is collected. The remaining fiber or byproduct, called bagasse, is sent to a nearby power plant. Where it is burned and used to produce stream that is then transformed into electricity. This electricity provides 100% of the power needed by the sugar plant. The surplus of electricity is put back into the energy grid via Maui Electric Company. [9999]

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