Swiss sugar

Swiss Sugar AG
legal form	Corporation
founding	1912
Seat	Frauenfeld , Switzerland
management	Guido Stäger ; ( CEO ) ; Andreas Blank ; ( Chairman of the Board of Directors )
Number of employees	> 250 (2018/2019)
sales	196.9 million CHF (2018/2019)
Branch	Food
Website	www.zucker.ch

The Swiss Zucker AG (SZU), headquartered in Frauenfeld is a Swiss producer of sugar . It is the only company in Switzerland that processes sugar beet and supplies the Swiss market with sugar and the resulting feed . SZU employs over 250 people and generated sales of 196.9 million Swiss francs in the 2018/2019 financial year.

Sugar factory in Aarberg

Wet unloading (and first cleaning) of sugar beets from railway wagons by means of a strong water jet in the Frauenfeld sugar factory (October 2010)

Share for CHF 250 in the Aarberg sugar factory dated July 21, 1899, founder's share

Field of activity

SZU processes an average of over 1.7 million tons of sugar beet per year in its two plants. From this it produces between 250,000 and 300,000 tons of sugar annually. The biggest buyer is Red Bull .

The beets are processed into granulated sugar and syrup from the end of September to the end of December in the so-called “campaign” . The stored syrup is also crystallized in spring. Further processing and packaging for retail and industry take place throughout the year.

In addition to granulated sugar , preserving sugar , organic sugar and syrup , the company also produces pressed and dried pulp and molasses . These are used as animal feed in agriculture.

The soil from the washing of the beets and other residual products from agriculture and forestry are used by the subsidiary Ricoter Erdaufbereitung AG to manufacture recycling products. With its subsidiary Landwirtschaft AG , ZAF also operates six agricultural businesses.

In the ZAF, pectin can be obtained from sugar beet .

history

The company has its origins in the Aarberg sugar factory that went into operation in October 1899 . This was completely destroyed by fire in January 1912. Under the leadership of the Berner Kantonalbank , a successor company was founded in November 1912, the Aarberg AG Sugar Factory and Refinery (ZRA), which started production in October 1913. This was gradually expanded during the Second World War. After various attempts to build a second sugar factory, the Frauenfeld AG sugar factory, founded in 1957, started operations.

The two previously legally independent companies were merged in 1997 to form the Aarberg and Frauenfeld AG (ZAF) sugar factories . In 2014 the company was renamed Schweizer Zucker AG (SZU). Today, the shareholders are widely spread between cantons, municipalities, beet growers and other investors. The shares of Schweizer Zucker AG are traded over the counter through various banks .