Sugar Fix, No More

This morning I saw the last "sugar boat" depart the Crocket C & H sugar processing plant.  Boats loaded with Hawaiian sugar cane product will no longer make the voyage from Maui to Crocket. The last Hawaiian cane processing plant has closed and the last Hawaiian shipload has now come and gone. 

Sugarcane belongs to the "grass family" Poaceae. It is a true grass from the Genus Saccharum.  Native to warmer climates such as Hawaii. The commercial cultivars are complex cultivars with stocks growing between 6 to 19 feet tall. Cane is commercially grown in more than 90 countries with Brazil being the largest producer. 80% of sugar is from sugarcane with balance mostly from sugar beets grown in colder climates. 

Our local Crocket plant will continue to process sugar product from foreign sources like Brazil and Vietnam. Apparently those foreign governments subsidize production to the extent the costs undercut the Hawaiian product. Sugar products are still being grown in Texas and Florida but they are processed elsewhere.   

The C & H name is an abbreviation of California and Hawaii, the name will stay the same in spite of the loss of Hawaiian product. 

c n h

Read more