Louise Sallé 11:10 a.m., March 09, 2023, modified at 11:10 a.m., March 09, 2023
France has become the leading European sugar power thanks to its sugar beets which are widely grown in France, mainly in the North.
Europe 1 returns to the origins and operation of sugar production.
As part of a project to "reorganize its industrial activity in France", the sugar producer Tereos announced on Wednesday the closure of a sugar refinery and a distillery.
The reasons for this closure are as follows: the lack of sugar beets, too low yields due to jaundice and infrastructures that are too difficult to modernize.
France is however the leader on the European sugar market.
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This place of number 1, France owes it to its sugar beets.
These are white and should not be confused with red food beets.
In France, this sugar beet is widely grown on 400,000 hectares, mainly in the North.
Its culture was developed under Napoleon, who could no longer obtain cane sugar from the West Indies because of the English blockade.
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Beet enjoys a very favorable climate in France, with a yield above the European average.
Five million tonnes of sugar are produced each year by five major sugar groups, half of which are exported abroad.
Nearly 40,000 French employees work in sugar production.
Nevertheless, beets are less and less resistant to climate change.
This forces the sector to depend on pesticides, the use of which is disputed, sometimes even prohibited.
French sugar production suffers.