Sugar / Sucrose
Our production of sugar involves several stages as from cultivation to processing and refining.
• Harvesting: Sugarcane is harvested by cutting the mature stalks close to the ground. While sugar beets are harvested by uprooting the entire plant from the soil. The harvested crops are then transported to processing facilities for further treatment.
• Extraction: The sugar content in sugarcane is mainly found in the juice inside the stalks. To extract the juice, the harvested sugarcane is crushed and the juice is then collected and filtered.
• Clarification: The extracted juice contains various impurities, including plant debris, soil particles, and other organic materials. It undergoes a clarification process, where it is heated and treated with lime to neutralize acidity and coagulate impurities. The resulting mixture is then filtered to remove solid particles.
• Evaporation: The clarified juice, cane juice or beet juice, is concentrated through evaporation to increase the sugar content. It is heated in large evaporators, causing water to evaporate and leaving behind a thick syrup called raw sugar.
• Crystallization: The raw sugar syrup is further processed to induce crystallization. It is seeded with sugar crystals or subjected to controlled cooling, causing sugar molecules to form crystals. The resulting sugar crystals are separated from the syrup in centrifuges or vacuum pans.
• Drying: The separated sugar crystals are washed with water to remove residual syrup and then dried to remove excess moisture. The dried sugar crystals are known as raw sugar or brown sugar.
• Refining: Raw sugar undergoes refining to remove remaining impurities and produce white sugar. It is dissolved in water, filtered, decolorized with activated carbon, and crystallized to produce fine white sugar crystals.
Together with our partners we are supporting our cocoa farmers to improve their farms