Quota and price cuts could threaten 500 sugar jobs
But quota and price cuts could slash that payout to €6.5m, according to leaked details of Brussels proposals to reform the EU sugar regime.
The Brussels proposals are a major worry for almost 500 people employed at Carlow and Mallow, and the resultant damage to Ireland’s sugar industry also threatens about 25,000 jobs in downstream and supply industries.
Production of sugar from about 90,000 acres of sugar beet starts around the end of September and continues until mid-January, in a 24 hours a day, seven days a week process.
The acreage yields some 1.6 million tonnes of beet. This year, farmers were paid 52.93 per tonne.
The bumper crop yielded more than 223,700 tonnes of sugar.
Irish Sugar’s excellent processing campaign was one of the highlights of Greencore Group plc’s recent interim statement of results.
The state-owned sugar maker (Irish Sugar Plc) was privatised in 1991, when the company was purchased by a group of investors who formed Greencore.
Since then, it has reduced its dependence on sugar through acquisitions including bakeries, and malt, milling, and margarine companies.
It has also diversified into higher-margin convenience foods, such as frozen baked goods and refrigerated and frozen desserts, sandwiches, and snacks.
