Lantic Sugar Limited and Rogers Sugar Ltd. have merged into a new operating entity now known as Lantic Inc., effective June 30, 2008. The two companies have worked together as one for a number of years. We have now taken the final step to identify ourselves as a wholly unified operation.

We have pursued this goal to achieve improved operating efficiencies, increased marketing abilities, and optimal bottom line results for our stakeholders. For the investment world there will be no change, as our public corporate name remains Rogers Sugar Income Fund. The new company, Lantic Inc., is a subsidiary of the Fund.

The established trademarks of both Lantic and Rogers will continue to be used by the new company as we leverage the historic brand awareness we enjoy in Eastern Canada with the Lantic name, and Western Canada with the Rogers name.

The finest traditions of both companies now form the foundation of a culture that is national in character and diverse in ambition. We have entered a new and dynamic era in the life of our company, which began nearly a century ago.

Lantic Inc. is one of two refiners in eastern Canada and operates a cane sugar refinery in Montreal, Quebec. In Eastern Canada, sugar products are marketed primarily under the “Lantic” trade name and include granulated, icing, cube, liquid, yellow and brown sugars.

In Western Canada, Lantic Inc. is the leading refiner, processor, distributor and marketer of sugar products. The Company has two sugar processing facilities, a cane sugar refinery in Vancouver, British Columbia and a sugar beet processing facility in Taber, Alberta. The Company's sugar products are marketed primarily under the "Rogers" trade name, and include granulated, icing, cube, yellow and brown sugars, liquid sugars and specialty sugars and syrups.

History of the Company

Lantic started operating a sugar refinery in Saint John New Brunswick in 1915 under the name Atlantic Sugar Limited. In the 1980’s, Atlantic Sugar Limited changed its name to Lantic Sugar Limited and acquired other sugar refiners in eastern Canada The first acquisition was Cartier Sugar in Montreal in 1981, followed by Westcane Sugar of Toronto in 1983, St-Lawrence Sugar of Montreal in 1984 and the Raffinerie de Sucre du Québec in 1986. All of these facilities were closed except for the St-Lawrence Sugar facility on Notre-Dame Street in Montreal, where all production output was consolidated over the years.

The Montreal refinery was first constructed on the current site in 1888, with an annual capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes. The rationalization of the eastern refineries in the late 1990s has made Lantic’s Montreal refinery a world class refinery, with a straight time capacity of over 440,000 metric tonnes.

In 1890, the Rogers family constructed Western Canada's first cane sugar refinery on the site of the Company's present Vancouver facility. The refinery was Vancouver's first substantial industry not based on forestry or fishing. Production of refined sugar commenced in 1891, with raw sugar imported from Asia. The Company expanded into the processing of sugar beets with the purchase of a factory in Raymond, Alberta in 1931. Rogers subsequently expanded the beet sugar business by building factories in Picture Butte and Taber, Alberta. In the 1950s Rogers acquired control of Manitoba Sugar Company, which had a sugar beet processing facility in Winnipeg. Rogers ceased production at the Winnipeg facility in January 1997 and today operates a single beet sugar facility in Taber Alberta. As the sole sugar processor in Western Canada, the Company supplies over 90% of the demand for refined sugar.

On June 30, 2008, Lantic Sugar Limited and Rogers Sugar Ltd. merged to form Lantic Inc.

The Sugar Industry

Refined sugar has been used extensively for centuries. It is a sweetening agent, a flavour enhancer, a “body” agent, a preservative and a fermentation aid. Refined sugar is derived from either sugar cane or sugar beets. Sugar produced from sugar beets is identical to that produced from sugar cane.

Sugar cane is grown largely in tropical climates, and is usually processed close to the growing site into raw sugar, which is non-perishable and transportable. This product is typically over 98% sucrose and looks like brown sugar, but is unfit for human consumption. The raw sugar is then refined, resulting in a product that is virtually 100% sugar.

Sugar beets are grown in more temperate climates such as the Canadian prairies and in the northern states of the United States. The crop is planted in the spring and harvested in September and October. Sugar beets are stockpiled at receiving stations close to the processing plant, and must be processed as quickly as possible, before warmer temperatures in the Spring.

Domestic cane sugar refineries rely entirely on imported raw sugar purchased at world prices to meet their raw sugar requirements. Canada, unlike the United States, has no protected domestic program for sugar production.

North American per capita consumption of sugar declined in the 1980s following the introduction of High Fructose Corn Syrup (“HFCS”). HFCS is extracted from corn as starch and chemically converted to glucose and then fructose. As a liquid sweetener, HFCS gained market acceptance as a substitute for liquid sugar in certain applications such as soft drinks. The artificially high price of sugar in the United States also encouraged HFCS production. In Canada and the United States, HFCS has largely replaced liquid sugar in applications where the two products may be used interchangeably. When world raw sugar prices are attractive, liquid sugar produced by the Western facilities remains cost competitive with HFCS in the Western provinces due to their location close to the end users.

Per capita consumption of refined sugar in Canada has decreased slightly over the last few years. Growth in total consumption is primarily linked to population increase and the increase in production of sugar containing products by manufacturers.

Artificial sweeteners, which are high-intensity non-caloric sweeteners that lack some of the physical properties of sugar, have found application in certain uses such as diet soft drinks. However, unlike HFCS, artificial sweeteners have, for the most part, created new markets, rather than competing with sugar.

Sugar Uses

Sugar, in one form or another, is essential for cooking. Baking wouldn’t be the art it is without the unique qualities of sugar. Sugar is a vital ingredient, not only for adding sweetness and flavour, but also because it aids the chemical reactions in baking. It can slow down the setting of a cake and blend with butter to give height and lightness to baked goods.

Not many people realize the importance of sugar. Sugar is a natural preservative and a meat tenderizer. Sugar lowers the freezing point of food – without it, ice cream would freeze so solidly that you couldn’t eat it. Sugar helps fruit release its natural juices and pectin in jam making, and adds sparkle to vinaigrette dressings. Many of us wouldn’t touch our daily bowl of cereal or cup of coffee without a sprinkle of sugar.

Candy making used to be known as “the art of sugar boiling”, because the process depends on the dissolving, and re-crystallizing of sugar. At different temperatures sugar takes on different forms. Beautiful spun sugar, cotton candy, caramel, toffee, brittle, fudge and blown sugar are just some of the magical results obtained from the heating and processing of sugar.

As well as being essential for cooking, sugar gives us the energy to function. In fact, by licking sugar maples in the Spring, certain animals indulged in “dessert” long before we did! Fruits and vegetables contain sugars, which is why adding a pinch of granulated sugar actually enhances their existing flavours, but doesn’t add sweetness.