Louisiana Sugar Refining

What Louisiana Sugar Refining does

Louisiana Sugar Refining, LLC (LSR) is a white sugar refinery headquartered at 1230 South 5th Avenue, Gramercy, St. James Parish, Louisiana. The company refines raw cane sugar and sells white sugar to commercial and retail customers throughout the United States, with distribution by rail and truck in bulk, 50-pound bags, and one-ton totes, and operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week. LSR is a 50/50 joint venture between Cargill, Inc. and Sugar Growers and Refiners, Inc. (SUGAR), an organization representing more than 800 Louisiana cane growers, and was fully capitalized at $190 million ($90 million owner equity plus $100 million in State of Louisiana revenue bonds). Imperial Sugar Company is a named strategic offtake customer that packages LSR sugar under its own retail brand.

The refinery runs at a stated production capacity of 2 billion pounds of white sugar annually, drawing raw sugar from 8 partner mills within roughly 100 miles and refining approximately 75% of all raw cane sugar produced in Louisiana. Its technology stack is positioned as "state-of-the-art," with documented environmental stewardship investments including water and condensate recycling, optimized sugar recovery, waste minimization, river-water treatment for production, reduced process chemicals, and Low NOx burners. LSR also markets itself as producing the only 100% U.S. Non-GMO cane sugar and operates from a site whose buildings form the Colonial Sugars Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places (1994). The company employs 261 full-time employees and contractors, with annual payroll and benefits exceeding $15 million.

Commercially, LSR runs a single-product, commodity-grade business model with three packaging formats and two go-to-market channels: direct commercial distribution to food and beverage manufacturers and packaged retail distribution, partly via Imperial Sugar. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the GTM motion is enterprise field sales with no public pricing. The marketing mix emphasizes community involvement (schools, festivals, athletic sponsorships), industry-association partnerships (American Sugar Cane League, The Sugar Association), and public-facing content on sugar production, nutrition, and environmental practice. There is no software, app, API, or AI/ML product surface disclosed.

Name

Louisiana Sugar Refining

Legal name

Louisiana Sugar Refining, LLC

Website

https://lsrsugar.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Louisiana Sugar Refining, LLC is a 50/50 Cargill and Sugar Growers and Refiners (SUGAR) joint venture operating a 2-billion-pound-per-year white sugar refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana, serving U.S. commercial and retail customers including Imperial Sugar Company.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sugar Refining

NAICS

Cane Sugar Manufacturing (311314)

SIC

Sugar & Confectionery Products (2060)

akta.pro primary industry

Cane Sugar (Raw & Refined) (AFAJAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sugar & Sweeteners Trading/Wholesale (AFAIAKAB)

Keywords

• White sugar refining
• Cane sugar processing
• Bulk sugar distribution
• Sugar manufacturing
• Raw sugar refining

Headquarters

HQ city

Gramercy

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. White Sugar Refining and Sales: LSR refines raw white sugar and sells to commercial and retail customers throughout the United States. The refinery produces two billion pounds annually and sells white sugar to Imperial Sugar for packaging and Imperial's own retail sales. Operations run 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

LSR refines raw cane sugar into white sugar at its Gramercy, Louisiana refinery, producing approximately two billion pounds of white sugar annually. Operations run 24 hours per day, seven days per week, with products shipped by rail and truck in bulk, 50-pound bags, and one-ton totes to commercial and retail customers throughout the United States. The refinery sources raw sugar from 8 partner mills within 100 miles of the facility and sells white sugar to Imperial Sugar Company for packaging and retail sales.

Product overview

Louisiana Sugar Refining operates a single core product offering: a white sugar refinery that processes raw sugar cane into refined white sugar. The company functions as a unified production facility rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The sole product is white sugar, distributed in three packaging formats (bulk, 50-pound bags, and one-ton totes) to commercial and retail customers nationwide. The refinery has a production capacity of two billion pounds annually.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• White Sugar Refined white sugar produced from raw cane sugar at the Gramercy, Louisiana refinery, with annual production capacity of approximately two billion pounds. Distributed in bulk, 50-pound bags, and one-ton totes to commercial and retail customers across the United States, including supply to Imperial Sugar Company for packaging and retail sales. Marketed by LSR as the only 100% U.S. Non-GMO sugar available.

Quantifiable outcome

• Two billion pounds of white sugar produced annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Imperial Sugar CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007Added as a full partner in 2007 to maintain the legacy of Imperial's 110-year old Gramercy refinery by providing guaranteed source of raw sugar and investment mechanism for upgrading the Imperial refinery with new technologies. Sold its share in LSR on December 15, 2011 to Cargill and SUGAR.
• Alma PlantationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of 8 partner mills located within 100 miles of the refinery that supply raw sugar to LSR.
• Louisiana Sugar Cane Co-op., Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of 8 partner mills located within 100 miles of the refinery that supply raw sugar to LSR.
• Cajun Sugar Co-op., Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of 8 partner mills located within 100 miles of the refinery that supply raw sugar to LSR.
• Lula Sugar FactoryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of 8 partner mills located within 100 miles of the refinery that supply raw sugar to LSR.
• Cora-Texas MFG. CO., Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of 8 partner mills located within 100 miles of the refinery that supply raw sugar to LSR.
• St. Mary Sugar Co-op., Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of 8 partner mills located within 100 miles of the refinery that supply raw sugar to LSR.
• Lafourche Sugars Corp.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of 8 partner mills located within 100 miles of the refinery that supply raw sugar to LSR.
• Westfield Sugar FactoryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of 8 partner mills located within 100 miles of the refinery that supply raw sugar to LSR.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Florida Crystals: Florida-based cane sugar grower and refiner producing refined sugar for retail and food service. Directly comparable to LSR in cane sugar refining, Non-GMO positioning, and integrated cane supply.
• ASR Group: The largest cane sugar refiner in the United States, owner of Domino, C&H, Florida Crystals' refining assets, and other sugar brands. Directly comparable to LSR as a cane sugar refiner serving US commercial and retail customers.
• Imperial Sugar Company: Long-standing US cane sugar refiner and former LSR JV partner. LSR still supplies Imperial Sugar with white sugar for packaging and retail; Imperial operates its own adjacent refining legacy at the historic Gramercy site.
• Western Sugar Cooperative: US sugar producer cooperative operating beet sugar refineries across the Mountain West and processing regions. Comparable to LSR as a regional sugar refiner serving food manufacturer and retail customers, though using beet rather than cane feedstock.
• Michigan Sugar Company: Beet sugar refiner and grower-owned cooperative in the US Midwest. Comparable to LSR in operating an integrated sugar refining asset backed by grower ownership, though feedstock is sugar beets rather than cane.
• Domino Foods: Consumer-facing sugar brand and refining subsidiary of ASR Group, distributing packaged cane and beet sugar to US retail and foodservice customers. Comparable to LSR's downstream commercial and retail distribution channels for white sugar.
• Amalgamated Sugar Company: US beet sugar refiner owned by grower cooperatives, producing refined sugar for retail and industrial customers. Comparable to LSR as a grower-linked sugar refiner serving US commercial and retail markets.
• U.S. Sugar Corporation: Vertically integrated cane sugar producer and refiner in Florida operating its own farming, milling, and refining operations. Comparable to LSR as a domestic cane sugar producer-refiner with bundled agricultural supply chain.

Broad incumbents

• Cargill, Inc. 50% JV partner in LSR and one of the world's largest agricultural commodity merchants with global sugar trading and refining operations. Comparable as the parent with overlapping sugar refining and origination capabilities, though operating at vastly broader scale.

Others

• Sugar Growers and Refiners, Inc. (SUGAR): Cooperative representing more than 800 Louisiana cane growers and 50% JV partner in LSR. Comparable as the vertically integrated grower organization that supplies raw cane to LSR, though it does not itself operate refining capacity.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Louisiana Sugar Refining