Michigan Sugar Company is an agricultural cooperative, based in

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metrop ...

, that specializes in the processing of

beet sugar A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wit ...

. Founded in 1906, Michigan Sugar sells beet sugar under the brand names ''Big Chief'' and ''Pioneer.'' Michigan Sugar operates four beet sugar factories, located in Bay City, Caro, Croswell, and Sebewaing, and operates three shipping and distribution centers in Michigan and the adjacent state of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. The firm has a

permanent employment Permanent employees work for an employer and are paid directly by that employer. Permanent employees do not have a predetermined end date to employment. In addition to their wages, they often receive benefits like subsidized health care, paid vac ...

headcount of 700 employees, to which are added 1,500 additional seasonal employees during the times of year when sugar beets are harvested and processed. During much of its history, Michigan Sugar was a publicly traded, private-sector firm. It was later a subsidiary of

Imperial Sugar Imperial Sugar is a major U.S. sugar producer and marketer based in Sugar Land, Texas, with sugar refinery operations in California, Georgia, and Louisiana. The company was established in 1843 and has undergone ownership changes multip ...

; after the 2001 bankruptcy of its former parent firm, Michigan Sugar became a cooperative in February 2002. Since that time the cooperative has been owned by a consortium of more than 1,000 sugar beet farmers, mostly located in Michigan's Thumb, who grow beets for processing. Michigan is a large producer of beet sugar:

"From farm fields to your table, the process of turning a sugarbeet seed into all-natural sugar takes many steps – some on the farm and others in the factory. It starts with planting the seeds each spring, continues through harvest in the fall and wraps up during an annual sugarbeet processing campaign at Michigan Sugar Company’s factories in Bay City, Caro, Croswell and Sebewaing."

Under the trade names of ''Pioneer Sugar'' and ''Big Chief Sugar'', Michigan Sugar's plants "produce roughly 1.2 billion pounds of sugar each year."

Controversies

The company's Bay City sugar beet processing plant located on South Euclid Avenue produces an offensive odor which can be described as burnt peanut butter, or vomit. Many complaints are received every year on the basis of the smell, and it is alleged to have been getting worse. The plant is located on the Southwest side of town, and winds prevail from the West, so very regularly much of the Southeastern and Eastern residential areas are affected. In 2004 the company settled with 3,800 families living near the plant for $1.75 million as the result of a class action lawsuit filed due to the offensive odor and pollution concerns. In 2017 the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality sued the company over the complaints mostly related to odors. The suit was settled in 2019 with the result that Michigan Sugar would pay a $300,000 fine and support or create two environmental projects totaling $262,500.

References

{{Central Michigan Agricultural marketing cooperatives Sugar companies of the United States Bay City, Michigan Companies based in Michigan Food and drink companies established in 1906 1906 establishments in Michigan Agricultural cooperatives in the United States

Controversies

See also

References