Organic cane sugar or organic beet sugar: Does more regional really mean more sustainable?

The last containers of the 2022 organic sugar cane harvest from the main cultivation areas such as Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia and Mozambique are currently being shipped to Europe. Almost simultaneously with the shipment, organic sugar beets went into processing here in Europe. What can we say about these ‘non-identical twins’? We believe that supporting social development and environmental sustainability as well as achieving cost-effectiveness remain important criteria. An overview.

A motor for social development

In the Global South, sustainable sugar farming is an important motor for the social development of whole regions. Fair prices guarantee an appropriate income. Cooperatives are vetted by independent auditors; they provide their employees with health insurance and invest their fair trade premiums in community projects. These include, for example, the construction of schools and medical treatment centres, or providing financial support and machinery to smallholdings in their daily agricultural work. For fair trade certified production, checks are carried out to verify explicitly that there are no malpractices such as child labour, forced labour, etc.

In Switzerland and Europe, sugar farming is admittedly not socially problematic, as a study by Swiss sugar manufacturer Schweizer Zucker AG (2018) rightly points out. On the other hand, it also does not really offer any potential for positive social development – unlike in Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia or Mozambique, where social development because of fair trade sugar is a measurable fact.

Positive price development for organic raw cane sugar

For organic cane sugar, the high freight rates of the previous years have dropped considerably since the autumn of 2022 for most of the countries of origin. This is having a positive effect on prices. The supply situation for organic sugar from Europe, however, is currently somewhat strained, which is reflected in higher prices: On the one hand, the energy crisis has a greater impact on the energy-intensive beet sugar farming in Switzerland and the EU than on our partners’ energy-self-sufficient sugar cane cultivation. On the other hand, the extremely dry period in 2022 and the below-average plant growth associated with this contributed to the beets of this harvest not offering a very high sugar yield.

Sustainable investment along the entire value creation chain

Many stakeholders along the entire value creation chain benefit from investment in sugar farming in the Global South – from the farmers themselves, to the workers in the sugar mills, through to the sailors, the country’s customs authorities, the warehouse workers, etc. The sugar cane cultivation sector is not subsidised there, unlike the Swiss sugar farming industry.

Organic cane sugar or organic beet sugar: Which is more environmentally friendly?

Finding a conclusive scientific answer on the environmental balance is quite difficult. Two beet sugar manufacturers have published their own studies, but in our eyes, they may not have been completely neutral in their assessment: Hardly surprising, both Schweizer Zucker AG (2018) and Südzucker (2021) come to the conclusion that organic beet sugar is more climate-friendly than organic cane sugar.

A neutral study by MyClimate (2008), on the other hand, finds that organic and Fairtrade sugar from Paraguay causes around 43% less CO2 than organic beet sugar from Switzerland.

All three studies are based on scientific data, but use different methods and focus on different aspects. Our Sustainability Report on p.17 (in German) provides a good summary.

We would also be delighted to answer your questions in person. Click here to find out more about our fairly traded organic sugars and the contact person for each region.