Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative

What Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative does

Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative, Inc. (LaSuCa) is a farmer-owned agricultural processing cooperative headquartered in St. Martinville, Louisiana, that converts sugarcane supplied by its grower-members into raw cane sugar and black strap molasses. Founded on April 22, 1974, when area farmers purchased the factory from Levert St John as St Martin Sugar Cooperative, the entity assumed its current form on October 1, 1993, through the merger of St Martin Sugar Co-op and Breaux Bridge Sugar Co-op. The cooperative operates a single integrated processing facility on the northeast bank of Bayou Teche, approximately 2.9 miles north of St Martinville.

The factory's technology stack is a conventional sugar milling train: a 6-mill tandem with hydraulic drive, cane washing with load-cell automation, a multi-stage clarification system (Dorr and Graver clarifiers with Eimco rotary vacuum filters), a 117,000 sq. ft. evaporator station, automated vacuum pans (Smar system from Brazil on pans 5-8), two banks of Dyer-Blanchard crystallizers, and a mix of Western States and Broadbent batch and continuous centrifugals. Finished sugar is stored in three warehouses (St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge), and molasses is held in tanks totaling approximately 3.53 million gallons. Bagasse, a milling byproduct, is burned as boiler fuel and stored in dedicated all-steel buildings for energy self-sufficiency.

Commercially, LaSuCa operates as a closed-loop B2B processor: it does not sell directly to consumers. Member farmers deliver pledged sugarcane, the cooperative processes it at scale (2,050,067 tons YTD in the 2021 grinding season), and raw sugar and black strap molasses are sold to industrial buyers including sugar refineries and distributors. Revenue mechanics are cooperative-based: processing margin and product sale proceeds are ultimately returned to grower-members rather than external shareholders. The cooperative is governed by a seven-member board of directors and operates an 11-director board with a general manager, plant manager, supervisors, chemist, and dedicated environmental engineer. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and the company has no public listing, no external investors, and a limited digital footprint (website copyright dated 2012).

Name

Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative

Legal name

Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative Inc.

Website

https://lasuca.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative is a farmer-owned cooperative that processes sugarcane from its grower-members into raw cane sugar and black strap molasses at a single integrated mill in St. Martinville, Louisiana, selling output to industrial buyers and returning proceeds to members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sugar Manufacturing

NAICS

Cane Sugar Manufacturing (311314)

SIC

Sugar & Confectionery Products (2060)

akta.pro primary industry

Cane Sugar (Raw & Refined) (AFAJAAAA)

Keywords

• Raw cane sugar production
• Black strap molasses
• Sugarcane processing cooperative
• Agricultural milling services
• Industrial sugar refining

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint Martinville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Sugar and Molasses Processing: As a cooperative, LaSuCa processes sugarcane from member farmers into raw sugar and black strap molasses. Revenue is generated from selling these processed products to industrial buyers (refineries, distributors), with profits returned to member growers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative (LaSuCa) is a farmer-owned cooperative that processes sugarcane supplied by its grower-members into raw cane sugar and black strap molasses at a single factory in St Martinville, Louisiana. Profits from the sale of these processed products to industrial buyers are returned to the member farmers. The cooperative also provides an online Grower Relations Program for member farmers to manage their deliveries.

Product overview

Louisiana Sugar Cane Cooperative (LaSuCa) operates as a single-factory sugar cane processing cooperative that produces two core products: raw cane sugar and black strap molasses. The company offers the Grower Relations Online Program as a service for member farmers to manage their participation. The factory processes sugarcane through an integrated milling, clarification, evaporation, crystallization, and centrifugation system, with storage facilities for both sugar and molasses at its St. Martinville location and a secondary warehouse in Breaux Bridge.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Raw Cane Sugar Primary product produced by LaSuCa at its St Martinville sugarcane processing factory, extracted through milling, clarification, evaporation, and crystallization, and sold to industrial buyers such as sugar refineries and distributors.
• Black Strap Molasses Secondary byproduct of the sugarcane processing operations at LaSuCa, produced alongside raw sugar and stored in tanks totaling approximately 3.53 million gallons, sold to industrial buyers.
• Grower Relations Online Program Online program for member farmers of the cooperative to manage their sugarcane deliveries and grower relations with LaSuCa; account setup requires contacting the LaSuCa main office.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,050,067 tons processed YTD in 2021 grinding season

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• ASR Group (American Sugar Refining): Parent of Domino, C&H, and other sugar brands; operates refineries that consume raw cane sugar from mills like LaSuCa. Largest North American cane sugar refiner and a key downstream buyer in the same value chain.
• American Sugar Refining (Domino): One of the largest refined sugar producers in North America, operating refineries that consume raw cane sugar from mills like LaSuCa. A downstream customer and the dominant branded competitor in the U.S. cane sugar market.
• U.S. Sugar Corporation: Large vertically integrated sugarcane grower and processor in Florida producing raw and refined sugar, molasses, and citrus. Comparable core activity of sugarcane milling into raw sugar, but at significantly greater scale and with broader product portfolio.
• Imperial Sugar Company: Long-established U.S. cane sugar refiner producing branded retail and industrial sugar products. Comparable raw cane sugar throughput but with a downstream refining and consumer brand position rather than raw-only milling.
• Florida Crystals Corporation: Vertically integrated sugarcane grower and sugar producer in Florida with organic and refined sugar brands. Operates in the same raw cane sugar category but with brand ownership, refining, and organic specialization absent from LaSuCa.

Regional players

• Glendale Agriculture (formerly SMG): Louisiana sugarcane farming and cooperative-style grower operations supplying raw cane to Louisiana sugar mills. Comparable in that it represents the grower-member side of the same value chain LaSuCa serves.

Direct peers

• Cora Texas Manufacturing Company: Louisiana-based raw sugar mill and refinery producing raw and refined sugar from sugarcane. Operates in the same regional supply chain and competes for Louisiana cane supply.
• Louisiana Sugar Refining: Raw cane sugar refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana, processing raw sugar into refined sugar. A downstream customer for Louisiana raw mills like LaSuCa and a direct participant in the same regional cane sugar value chain.
• M.A. Patout & Sons: Long-standing Louisiana sugarcane processor operating a raw sugar mill in Jeanerette, LA. Directly comparable as a regional sugarcane processor serving Louisiana cane growers, producing raw sugar and molasses from member or contract cane.
• Lula Sugar Factory: Louisiana raw sugar mill operated as a cooperative-style processor for sugarcane growers. Comparable business model of grinding Louisiana sugarcane into raw sugar and molasses for industrial buyers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles24 records

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 Cane Cooperative