What is sugar? "Sugar" refers to sucrose, a carbohydrate found naturally in fruits and vegetables. Sucrose is the major product of photosynthesis, a natural process that turns sunlight into energy. Sucrose is the most abundant sugar found in nature, and occurs in the greatest quantities in sugar cane and sugar beets.
There is no bleaching agent added at any time during the refining process. Sugar contains no artificial preservatives, colourings or any other additives. Pure sucrose crystals are naturally white. During the refining process, the natural sugar that is stored in the sugar cane stalk (or beet root) is separated from the rest of the plant material. The juice is purified, filtered, concentrated and dried in a series of steps to produce pure sucrose.
Before it comes to Canada, sugar cane is partially refined into raw sugar at mills operated near the sugar fields. Sugar cane has to be processed rapidly after being cut.
After it is harvested sugar cane is cut and crushed to extract the juice. The juice is then heated, partially purified and concentrated until the sugar crystallizes. This crystallized raw sugar is then shipped to our refineries in Montreal and Vancouver.
Raw sugar is melted and filtered to become liquor that is then purified and decolourised to remove plant residues, waxes and soil residues.
The clarified sugar liquor is now passed through filters to remove suspended solids and remaining colour.
A majority of the water is evaporated from the sugar liquor, followed by boiling in large vacuum pans. At the end of the cycle, the vacuum pan contains a mixture of sugar crystals and syrup.
Centrifugals separate the crystals of sugar from the syrup. The crystals are dried and stored in silos until required for packaging or shipment to customers.
The sugar is now ready to be packed in various sizes, from large 1 tonne industrial bags or small 2 kg paper bags that you find at the grocery store.
Harvesting of the sugar beet crop begins each year in September. Growers deliver the beets to one of seven receiving points located in southern Alberta.
Our beet sugar factory in Taber processes sugar beets grown in southern Alberta. They are first harvested, sent to our plant and sliced into thin, noodle-like strips called cossettes. The cossettes are mixed with juice and pumped to the extraction tower.
The sugar is extracted from the cossettes by diffusion. The sugar-containing juice leaves the bottom of the tower while the exhausted cossettes (now called pulp and containing less than 0.3% sugar) are dischargedand and made into pellets which are sold for animal feed.
The raw juice from the extraction must first be purified before the sugar can be crystallized. This is done using lime and carbon dioxide gas. Impurities present in the juice (originating with the sugar beets) are precipitated by the lime and carbon dioxide gas and then removed by filtration.
After purification, the juice is concentrated to remove water and then boiled in large vacuum pans. At the end of the cycle, the vacuum pan contains a mixture of sugar crystals and syrup.
Centrifugals separate the crystals of sugar from the syrup. The crystals are dried and stored in silos until required for packaging or shipment to customers.
The sugar is now ready to be packed in various sizes, from large 1 tonne industrial bags or small 2 kg paper bags that you find at the grocery store.
We have a dedicated facility located in Scarborough ON, to handle dry blending of ingredients and finished products. The plant is FSSC 22000 V3 certified as well as federal dairy certified. The plant is equipped with blenders segregated in individual rooms, as well as packaging capabilities to handle anything from 1 MT tote bags, to 10kg/25kg bags, retail composite canisters, bag in box as well as pouch fill.
Cane sugar and beet sugar refining processes produce two very unique by-products. Blackstrap molasses is the by-product from the cane sugar refining process. Beet molasses is a non-food grade by-product which is sold for production of yeast and also a livestock feed supplement. Dried Molassed Beet Pulp is a co-product of the sugar beet refining process and provides a useful energy food for a wide range of livestock.