There is sweetness all over this southern Alberta town because storage for sugar and thick juice from the 2016 sugarbeet crop is at a premium.
The Lantic (Rogers) Sugar factory in Taber had to find extra storage space and slow down the processing of last year’s crop at the end of November when buyers were slow to take contracted product.
Andrew Llewelyn-Jones, general manager of the factory, said temporarily throttling back production was “not a decision of our choosing but one that was necessary.”
He told those at the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers annual meeting Feb. 8 that the plant is now running at speed and shipments to both Coca Cola and Mexican food distributor Novamex are catching up to plans.
The latter company was supposed to be accepting six rail cars of sugar per week and is still 20 to 30 cars behind the planned delivery schedule, Llewelyn-Jones said.
ASBG president Arnie Bergen Henengouwen said dealing with a big crop is a good problem to have.
“(Lantic) has given us assurances that all the sugar is sold, it’s got a home. It’s just a matter of moving it in an orderly fashion.”
Source: www.producer.com