The Agrana Group is a food company based in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

that produces

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

, fruit preparation, juice concentrate and

ethanol fuel Ethanol fuel is fuel containing ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol as found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. Several common ethanol fuel mixtures are in use aro ...

. Agrana is mainly supplying to international food industry, with some minor end customer business. A known brand is Wiener Zucker. Agrana runs around 50 facilities with major production bases in Australia, Austria, Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, Mexico, Poland, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine, and the United States. In 2021, Agrana ranked 6th in the modified starch category of FoodTalks' Global Food Thickener Companies list.

History

Agrana was founded in 1988 as a holding company for the Austrian sugar and Starch industry. Operations started with 3 sugar plants (Tulln, Leopoldsdorf and Hohenau), a potato starch plant (Gmünd) and a

corn starch Cornflour, cornstarch, maize starch, or corn starch (American English) is the starch derived from corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the seed, kernel. Corn starch is a common food ingredient, often used to thick ...

plant (Aschach). Company history should however be considered dating back to 1902, when raw sugar production started in Leopoldsdorf. Similarly, sugar production in Tulln had started in 1937. The company went public on the

Vienna Stock Exchange Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1991. In 1990, Agrana took stakes in sugar and starch plants in Hungary, and investment in neighbouring countries followed. From 2003 to 2005, Agrana started reducing its sugar business due to European Union quotas, and diversified in the fruit processing and juice concentrates businesses, acquiring several companies: Steirerobst, Vallosaft, Wink, Atys. As of 2012, Agrana operated 9 sugar plants, 5 starch plants and 37 processing sites for fruits throughout central Europe.

Shareholders

75,5% of Agrana shares belong to ''Z&S Zucker und Stärke Holding AG'', a 100% subsidiary of ''Agrana Zucker, Stärke und Frucht Holding AG''. 24,5% is in free float. German company

Südzucker AG Südzucker AG (, literally ''South sugar'') is a German company, the largest sugar producer in the world, with an annual production of around 4.8 million tonnes. In February 2014, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office imposed a joint fine of 280 mil ...

and ''Zucker-Beteiligungsgesellschaft m.b.H.'' each hold a 50% stake in ''Agrana Zucker, Stärke und Frucht Holding AG''. In turn, ''Zucker-Beteiligungsgesellschaft m.b.H.''s main stakeholders is the Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien, with a 78,31% stake. Remaining capital is in the hands of Marchfelder Zuckerfabriken GesmbH, Estezet Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Rübenproduzenten Beteiligungs GesmbH and the Leipnik-Lundenburger Invest Beteiligungs AG.

Controversy

Agrana continued its operations in Russia while simultaneously expressing concerns about the duty-free import of Ukrainian sugar, claiming it negatively impacts its business.

Group of companies

Agrana Sugar (''Agrana Zucker Gmbh.'')

* includes companies: :# ''Moravskoslezské cukrovary s.r.o.'' (

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

) :# ''Magyar Cukor Zrt.'' (Hungary) :# ''Slovenské cukrovary s.r.o.'' (

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

) :# ''S.C. Agrana Romania S.A.'' (

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

); * 10 production facilities in Central Europe; * revenues: €684 million; * number of employees: 2,336; * processed 4,700,000 tons of

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

and 180,000 tonnes of raw

Agrana Starch (''Agrana Stärke Gmbh.'')

* includes companies: :# ''Hungrana Kft.'' (Hungary) :# ''S.C.A.F.D. Tandarei S.R.L.'' (

) :# ''Agrana Bioethanol Gmbh'' (Austria); * 5 production facilities in Central Europe; * revenues: €499 million; * number of employees: 880; * processed 190,000 tons of

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es and 820,000 tonnes of

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

;

Agrana Fruit (''Agrana J & F Holding Gmbh.'')

* includes companies: :# ''Agrana Fruit S.A.S.'' (France) :# ''Agrana Juice Holding Gmbh'' (Austria); * 37 production facilities worldwide; * revenues: €806 million; * number of employees: 4,711; * processed 940,000 tons of fruits.

Research and development

The company '' Agrana Research & Innovation Center'' is an AGRANA 100% subsidiary responsible for research and development for sugar, fruit, starch and bioethanol.

References

{{Authority control Food and drink companies based in Vienna Manufacturing companies based in Vienna Sugar companies Starch companies Agriculture companies of Austria Food and drink companies established in 1988 Manufacturing companies established in 1988 Austrian companies established in 1988