About 30 minutes into the film, the hapless heroine, June – played by Cameron Diaz – is fleeing from Tom Cruise, who plays a rogue spy named Roy. As Diaz is running for her life, she jumps on a bus that displays a Wholesome Sweeteners’ ad on the back.

Happenstance?

Not hardly, says Pauline McKee, vice president of marketing for the company, which specializes in Fair Trade Certified™ organic and natural sweeteners.

“I have worked with a company called Motion Picture Magic for approximately five years,” she says.
“We responded to a request from the film producers of ‘Knight and Day’ just over two years ago.”

McKee says the California-based company has been very successful in securing Wholesome Sweeteners’ product placements in feature films, such as “Bedtime Stories” with Adam Sandler, and on TV shows, including “Two and a Half Men” and “Entourage.”

“This has been a great partnership through which we introduce stars, cast and crew to our products and also place them on the set in appropriate scenes during shooting,” she says.

It’s all part of the big-picture marketing strategy for this joint venture between Imperial Sugar, one of the largest U.S. sugar companies, and Edward Billington & Son, one of the UK’s largest, privately owned companies with products and services in the food and agriculture sectors.
Adds McKee: “We are very excited that the Wholesome Sweeteners’ bus banner advertisement survived final editing and cut.”

It just goes to show. You can have more than one thing that’s naturally wholesome and good in a cloak-and-dagger plot line. Move over Cameron Diaz.

For Wholesome, the result is a successful marketing partnership that puts chefs’ faces and favorite recipes on the product lines’ packaging. It’s a win-win-win: Chefs gain visibility, Wholesome benefits from aligning its brand with top-notch chefs, and customers gain access to the same recipes being whipped up in top kitchens across the U.S.

“These famous chefs love what we do and what we stand for,” says Pauline McKee, vice president of marketing for Wholesome Sweeteners, “so they’re allowing us to feature them on the backs of all our packaging as non-compensated advocates.”

Celebrity endorsements are nothing new. This arrangement is more of a branding alignment, says Wholesome Consumer Marketing Manager Karen Stevenson. “It’s a blending of the chefs’ values with Wholesome’s values,” Stevenson says.

“All the chefs we work with, we work with because they are advocates for the brand and the bigger picture of social and environmental responsibility. They really do believe in more than the bottom line.”

For example, when consumers purchase a bag of Wholesome Sweeteners natural cane sugar, they may notice the back-of-the-bag face and favorite recipe of Marcus Samuelsson, who was the guest chef at the Obama Administration’s first State Dinner. He is chef and co-owner of restaurants Aquavit and Riingo, as well as a cookbook author.

Marilu Henner, author of seven healthy lifestyle and cookbooks, is an advocate of organic sucanat.

He is also a staunch advocate of fair trade, which is why he has aligned himself with Wholesome’s products by appearing on packaging and mentioning the benefits of the sweeteners in his cookbook, The Soul of a New Cuisine.

He writes, “Brown sugar is manufactured throughout the African continent. My favorite is a fair-trade raw cane demerara from Malawi, which is sold under Wholesome Sweeteners brand at many upscale grocery stores. It has an intense, multifaceted flavor that really stands out in recipes.”

Two of Samuelsson’s favorite recipes made with Wholesome’s products? Coconut Cookies and Ginger Citrus Cookies.

Other celebrity faces appearing on the company’s packaging:

Marilu Henner, author of seven healthy lifestyle and cookbooks, is an advocate of organic sucanat, which is whole cane juice that has been rapidly evaporated and hand-paddled to create a dry, porous, free-flowing organic brown sugar.  The ingredient stars in all seven of her recipe books and is a featured ingredient in her Marilu’s Brownies.

Food Network star Tyler Florence visited the organic sugar cane fields at one of Wholesome Sweeteners’ supplier’s farm in Costa Rica, then made an appearance on The Today Show to cook using unrefined and organic sugars made by Wholesome Sweeteners. His favorite recipes: cranberry relish, Marmalade Ice Cream, and a Warm and Crusty Date Pudding.

The products made their debut this month at Wholesome Sweeteners’ trade show booth at the Natural Food Expo West in Anaheim, California.

Consumer Marketing Manager Karen Stevenson expects the line to be a hit in the marketplace. “Agave is our fastest growing product type. It’s really unprecedented,” she says.

What’s responsible for the growth? “As consumers become more aware of new sweetener options, they’re more willing to try them,” Stevenson says. “It used to be that we only had conventional white and brown sugars to choose from. Now there are new sweeteners that combine in new, wonderful ways.”

Part of the appeal of agave is that it’s organic and has a low glycemic index, which is a measure of how quickly a body adjusts to sugars. High-glycemic food causes blood sugar to spike. Low-glycemic food gives a body energy, but more slowly. “It’s a slow burn vs. a fast burn,” explains Stevenson.

And like sugar, agave has versatility. This flavored line, for example, can be used to top waffles, pancakes or desserts, in oatmeal, as marinades, in coffee, or in homemade salad dressings.

To make agave, the core of the plant is first harvested then crushed. Juices are collected and filtered then hydrolyzed very slowly. To convert the agave juice into a nectar that our bodies can digest, Wholesome exposes it to low heat over a long period of time to create “raw” agave syrup, or brings the heat up faster to create regular (or “light”) agave. Raw agave is less filtered and has a slightly more complex flavor profile.

Within Wholesome’s new line, three flavors — strawberry, maple and cinnamon — are raw, while vanilla is light.

Stevenson says she’s been experimenting with the new line in her own kitchen, “and they’re so much fun. I made maple oatmeal scones and some ricotta fritters with vanilla agave that were so good they were dangerous to have in the house. I’m delighted to see how versatile they are.”

Sugar cane field being cut by hand in Paraguay.

Social premiums go beyond the price paid for sugar and honey. They are funds sent directly and every quarter to the farmer cooperatives that sell to Wholesome. For example, a farming group in Malawi, one of the 20 poorest countries in the world, might sell sugar cane by the ton to a local mill for an agreed-upon price. Wholesome pays the mill for that sugar. Then the company goes a step further by direct-wiring a social premium — perhaps seven to nine cents per pound of sugar — to the farmers themselves.

“Farmers use the money for the benefit of the community — for projects that really impact people’s lives,” says Pauline McKee, vice president of marketing for Wholesome Sweeteners.

Wholesome is still the first and only Fair Trade sugar company in the United States. Since 2005, the company has been steadily building the market for Fair Trade Certified sweeteners, gearing its products toward “socially and environmentally concerned consumers,” says McKee. “Consumers’ increasing support of these products demonstrates their commitment to the larger cause.”

The “larger cause” is the concept of Fair Trade, which guarantees that farmers’ cooperatives are paid fairly and directly. Workers on a Fair Trade farm, for example, receive a fair market price for their produce and enjoy safe working conditions. Child labor is prohibited. And the structure of the system ensures that growers can compete with factory farms — while still practicing sustainable agriculture — and earn enough to buy their own land and send their kids to school.

“The Fair Trade system is also about the farmers’ being self-determining. A farmers’ cooperative is getting this money through their own work, and they’re making decisions together about how to benefit their own community,” says McKee.

Well dug in Malawi using Fair Trade premiums.

In Malawi, for example, farmers used social-premium funds to dig water wells, so that women no longer had to spend hours each day hauling water from a nearby village. In Paraguay, funds pre-financed trucks, allowing farmers to transport sugar cane to mills within 24 hours of cutting it.

Other farmers in Paraguay opted to put money toward creating a radio station, “because, of course, no one has cell phones,” explains McKee. “Now they can communicate and know what’s happening in their community by listening to the station.”

“The benefits of the Fair Trade Certified program have enormous impacts for our cooperative partners in Malawi, Mexico and Paraguay, and those benefits increase with every quarterly payment,” she adds. “Together, we really are making the world a sweeter place.”

“It’s something to get kids involved in baking and, hopefully, in developing recipes of their own,” says Pauline McKee, vice president of marketing for Wholesome Sweeteners.

Parents can enter their little chefs in the contest in one of two ways: by sending in a video of their 4- to 17-year-old child concocting her favorite original recipe, or by sending in a photo of their child with the finished recipe.

Last year’s grand-prize winner, 7-year-old Meagan, made Strawberry French Toast using organic sugar, while first-prize winner, 7-year-old Jake, made Oatmeal Candy Clumps. Both submitted cooking show-style videos in which they mixed ingredients while sharing nutritional tidbits of knowledge.

Parents and children entering this year’s contest must use in their original recipes at least one of the products from Wholesome Sweeteners, a line of fair-trade-certified, organic and natural sweeteners, including organic sugars, honey, blue agave and molasses.

Once the contest ends on May 31, the marketing team at Wholesome Sweeteners will join Kiwi editors to judge the entries. The top three winners will take home a cash prize – $2,500, $1,500 or $500 – and garner a spot on the pages of Kiwi magazine.

The Wholesome-Kiwi marketing partnership extends beyond the contest, as well. For example, on American Airlines flights, parents who fly with children under 12 years old receive a family pack that includes Kiwi magazine, plus honey, organic tea and other samples from Wholesome Sweeteners.

It’s a winning recipe for Wholesome Sweeteners, a company that, like Kiwi, hopes to appeal to families seeking an organic approach to food. Says McKee, “Ultimately, cooking is just a great activity to do with your children. That’s why we like being associated with this contest and this partner.”

That’s the secret ingredient in the growing following behind Wholesome Sweeteners’ products and its Sugar Club.

Wholesome Sweeteners, Inc., a 50-percent-owned joint venture of Imperial Sugar Company, searches the world over to bring the “finest organic and natural sugar products from ethically and environmentally responsible growers and manufacturers” to North America.

Wholesome’s mission is right on time, as consumers become more aware of what’s going into the foods they eat and show increased interest in organic and sustainability issues.

“We use the Sugar Club as a vehicle for communicating our brand values,” said Pauline McKee, Wholesome’s vice president of marketing. “People are drawn to our brand because of the superiority of our products and the assurances we’re able to provide for food safety and quality.”

McKee said the Wholesome brand is being increasingly picked up in blogs, consumer ads and consumer-based publications, driving traffic to the Wholesome Sweeteners Website and, in turn, generating members for its Sugar Club.

The Sugar Club is part of Wholesome’s consumer communications, with its own Website and online newsletter. According to Wholesome’s Consumer Marketing Manager Karen Stevenson, who writes the newsletter, these are used as a resource to educate consumers about organics, the environment, and Fair Trade and the difference it makes.

Fair Trade means farmers are paid directly (without a middleman) and receive a set price for their crops that is fair and reliable. Under the leadership of its CEO, Nigel Willerton, Wholesome pioneered the certification process for Fair Trade Certified(tm) sugar and honey.

“For consumers, Fair Trade represents a personal value system and commitment to help support farming communities that are far beyond our shores and who for generations have been poorly paid for the hard work they do,” said Stevenson. “The Sugar Club provides the opportunity to create a relationship between the consumer and the farmer who are so very far away.”

Today, Wholesome Sweeteners is the category leader in Fair Trade Certified, organic and natural sugars, syrups, nectars and honeys.

On the lighter side, the Sugar Club sponsors recipe contests and other fun activities. A team at Wholesome evaluates recipe submissions and then posts its favorite online. In return for their time and energy, winners receive a box of sweet goodies.

“Where in the World” contests and activities incorporate a geographic aspect, highlighting the fact that all of Wholesome’s products come from various regions around the world, not from the United States.

“A lot of homeschoolers use our ‘Where in the World’ activities in their geography and geology lessons because we cover the plant science and ecosystems around our products’ sources,” said Stevenson.

The Sugar Club also introduces its 18,000 members to a number of celebrity chefs who have personally chosen the organic standards and Fair Trade activities of Wholesome Sweeteners. Background on these chefs, why they believe in Wholesome products and some of their recipes can be found on the company’s Website.

Wholesome Sweetener products are sold in such stores as Costco, Whole Foods, Kroger, Sprouts and through various food co-ops.

Visit Wholesome Sweeteners.

Wholesome Sweeteners, a joint venture between Imperial Sugar and Edward Billington & Son, Europe’s leading importer of natural and organic unrefined sugars, chose the Expo to introduce new products.

1) Gourmet Organic Flavored Blue Agaves

The multi-purpose sweeteners are made with mild nectar from the renowned Blue Agave (or, “Weber azul”) plant from central Mexico and are now available in gourmet flavors such as Vanilla, Strawberry, Maple and Cinnamon. These syrups are the perfect topping for pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, beverages, and as an ice cream topping.

2) Billington’s USA Sweeteners

Billington’s unique, unrefined cane sugars are produced naturally on the Island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, where high quality specialty sugars have been made for decades. These artisanal sweeteners are proclaimed by many chefs and home bakers as probably the best in the World.

Billington’s is now available in new bag-in-box packaging that features a heat-sealed inner lining that keeps the sugars fresh, soft and moist.

Gourmet Organic Flavored Blue Agave and Billington USA Sweeteners will be available at stores where Wholesome Sweetener brands are carried.

That’s the idea behind “Fair Trade,” an organized social movement and market-based approach that advocates the payment of a higher price to farmers and producers in developing countries to promote sustainability as well as better social and environmental standards.

Fair trade encompasses a wide variety of goods exported from developing countries to developed countries, such as handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, chocolate and flowers. Fair trade’s strategic intent is to work with marginalized producers and workers in order to help them move towards economic self-sufficiency and stability, become greater stakeholders in their own organizations, and play a wider role in international trade.

In 2008, Fair trade certified sales amounted to approximately $4 billion worldwide, a 22% year-to-year increase. An estimated 7.5 million producers and their families benefit from fair trade funded infrastructures, technical assistance and community development projects.

In 2005, Wholesome Sweeteners, a joint venture between U.S.-based Imperial Sugar and Britain’s Edward Billington & Sons, became the first company to launch fair trade certified organic and natural sugar in America.

Wholesome’s Vice President of Marketing, Pauline McKee

“Fair trade means that a premium, a fair price, is paid directly to farmers so that they can keep their land, send their kids to school and build thriving communities,” says Wholesome’s Vice President of Marketing, Pauline McKee. She also notes that customer support for Fair Trade Certified sweeteners has been unprecedented and as of October 2009, Wholesome Sweeteners paid $1.88 million in premiums back to cooperative partners.

On fair trade farms, producers must adhere to strict standards regarding the use and handling of pesticides, the protection of natural waters, virgin forest and other ecosystems of high ecological value, and the management of erosion and waste. Fair trade prices enable small-scale sugar farmers to pay for organic certification and training in sustainable agricultural techniques.

“Fair trade shows that you can have an exciting business model for shareholders, but also be socially responsible,” says McKee. “This is a concept that consumers really can attach to, and they can choose to buy delicious sugars and honeys and other sweeteners that make a positive impact in areas of the world that desperately need help.”

A pallet of Dixie Crystals is readied for shipment to Wal-Mart

A recent tour by representatives of Wal-Mart to Imperial Sugar’s large refinery at Port Wentworth, Georgia, was the first customer visit to the reconstructed and modernized sugar packaging plant, located just north of Savannah.

During an in-depth briefing for the guests, Imperial Sugar President and CEO John Sheptor underscored his company’s commitment to its customers, saying that quality, service and safety – food safety and safety in production – come first. The recent recession, he said, has driven new supplier-customer trends to create new value opportunities in the supply chain, and new efficiencies.

A Wal-Mart inspection team is escorted through the new Port Wentworth plant floor.

Imperial Sugar’s objective, Sheptor said, is to be “recognized as the leading sweetener company in North America and an agile and flexible company that is the industry innovator.”

Imperial Sugar’s large and newly redesigned and modernized sugar packaging facility at Port Wentworth is an example of the company’s commitment, featuring state-of-the-art automated sugar packaging and handling systems from leading designers in the U.S., Germany and New Zealand.

Sheptor said his company is transforming a production-centric culture in refining and production to customer-centric, with emphasis on personal relationships and careful listening to the needs of customers. Imperial Sugar, he said, is “dedicated to exceeding customer metrics and standards and will be recognized for shared creativity with our customers.”

Particularly in the area of organic sugar – a segment in the food sector that has seen 17 percent growth in the last year – Imperial Sugar is excelling, Sheptor said, through its 50 percent stake in Wholesome Sweeteners and development of new organic products for consumers.

The Wal-Mart team inspects the most modern packaging plant in the sugar industry.

In the area of relationships, Sheptor told the Wal-Mart representatives that Imperial Sugar delivers value and exceeds expectations, and demonstrates supply chain excellence, value and safety. He said a commitment to flexible, open and transparent communications is practiced and respected at all levels of his company, together with a desire to build excellent rapport and trust with customers and the sugar industry as a whole.

While Wal-Mart has had Super Centers in operation since 1988, the company hopes that the relationship with Imperial Sugar can help the retail giant become more competitive in the sugar category.

Bags of sugar speed down the safest packing line in the industry.

Wholesome Sweetners waterbottles were given to all participants.

The first Saturday of fall brought together more than 350 Sugar Land, Texas area kids for a day of biking, swimming and running at the Wholesome Sweeteners 2009 Sugar Tri Kidz Triathlon. As the starter’s gun fired at 8 a.m., family and friends cheered on their favorite participants of the triathlon held at Sugar Creek Country Club.

“More than 350 kids registered for the event making it a sweet success!” says Nigel Willerton, CEO of Wholesome Sweeteners and IronMan Tri-athlete. Nigel competes in Iron Man events in the U.S. and U.K.

“Wholesome Sweeteners has a long tradition of community involvement and we’re pleased to have sponsored this inspiring event,” he said. “We’re parents too. We want our kids to be as healthy and active as they can be. Getting them up and outside was a great start to the day!”

Participants were divided into three age groups. Keeping the age of the participants in mind, the distances were adjusted accordingly:

• 5-7 year olds: 25 yard swim, 1-mile bike, 1/4 mile run
• 8-10 year olds: 50 yard swim, 2-mile bike, 1/2 mile run
• 11-12 year olds: 100 yard swim, 3-mile bike, 1 mile run

Nigel Willerton, CEO of Wholesome Sweeteners and IronMan Tri-athlete.

All athletes completing the race received a medal. Awards were given in each age group as well as to the top three boys and girls finishers. The kids’ race packets included a Wholesome Sweeteners re-usable water bottle printed especially for the occasion.

Before the kids competed on the course, they were competing for individual sponsorships. Each competitor asked friends and family to sponsor them in the race. The Sponsorship Grand Prize was a Mini Dell Notebook Computer, 2nd prize was an Apple iPod and third prize was a gift certificate to Academy Outdoor Sports. All proceeds from the kids’ individual sponsorships will go directly to the SnowDrop Foundation and the CDifferent Foundation.

The Snowdrop Foundation assists patients and families at Texas Children’s Cancer Center through funding for continued research to eliminate childhood cancer and scholarships for college-bound pediatric cancer patients and survivors.

The CDifferent Foundation creates opportunities for visually impaired athletes to participate in athletic events. The foundation’s goal is total integration — not separateness — for blind and visually impaired athletes for the benefit of society in all countries worldwide.

Mark Cashin

Teamwork has also been the theme in Cashin’s additional role as lead chairman of Wholesome Sweeteners, a joint venture between Billington’s and U.S.-based Imperial Sugar. In 2001, Wholesome Sweeteners had a
turnover of $4m and was loss-making; today, it’s the category leader in Fair Trade Certified organic and natural sugars, syrups, nectars and honeys, with a 53% brand share of all Organic & Natural Sugars in the Natural Foods Channel and revenues in excess of $70m.

Imperial recently upped its stake in Wholesome Sweeteners to 50 percent and, in accordance with the company’s partnership agreement, Cashin recently rotated out of his role as Wholesome’s lead chairman (on September 1), handing over the reins to Imperial CEO John Sheptor for a one-year term.

Sheptor credits his predecessor as “one of the world’s most prominent sugar industry executives, with a true gift for building successful organizations. Wholesome’s distinctive culture is dynamic and entrepreneurial. It’s a good complement to both Imperial and Billington’s and we continue to expect healthy advances in new markets with great new products, which are the essence of success.”

And while he may be stepping down, Cashin certainly isn’t stepping out: He’ll still represent Billington’s shareholders as a board member and continue his long successful relationship with Wholesome’s CEO, Nigel Willerton. Cashin credits Willerton as the driving force for Wholesome’s success.

Cashin and Willerton worked together in the UK in Billington’s sugar business for many years before Cashin persuaded him to take up the opportunity to lead Wholesome and swap his North Wales rural retreat for the Texas way of life. Both Nigel Willerton and Pauline McKee, Wholesome’s Marketing VP, relocated from the UK to head up Wholesome Sweeteners in July 2001. They are still the catalysts for product innovation and successful execution which are behind Wholesome’s impact on the market.

“Mark is a world expert in specialty sugar sourcing and marketing,” says Willerton. “He’s given invaluable guidance, introductions and knowledge to help develop Wholesome Sweeteners into the market-leading business it is today, and I appreciate his continued interaction. The role may be changing, but we’re still a team,” he asserts.

The teamwork analogy is apt, especially when Willerton also points out Cashin’s near-fanaticism about cricket. “Mark’s sadness at leaving his role is somewhat tempered by the fact that England recently beat the Australians at cricket for only the second time in 22 years and regained something called ‘The Ashes.”

“Don’t ask,” he adds with a laugh. (See “The Ashes” on Wikipedia.)

“Teamwork is everything,” says Cashin, a Cambridge graduate (economics and law). “As both an amateur player and now as a coach for youngsters, I’ve observed that cricket’s a sport that best combines the individual within a team framework. Since you only get one chance at bat all day, it teaches you how to be mentally strong as well as physically prepared. It’s a fitting metaphor for life.”

Cashin, who still lives in the Wirral region near Liverpool where he grew up, acknowledges that teamwork informs his life outside of business, too. “Sports helped me learn early on to keep a perspective and enjoy work as much as life, to keep everything in context. It’s about balance. When things get difficult, let’s deal with it as where we are, rather than where we’d like to be, and then put our heads together to get it sorted out.”

“Nigel shares this philosophy and we like to think that all 30 employees feel part of a special team, that likes winning and that each individual feels that they make a vital contribution.”

Stir it in your coffee. Sweeten your tea with it. Sprinkle some on cake and cookies. Then, get on with the important things in life.

Sugar, however, is much more. Today, the domestic sugar business represents a huge industry, valued at more than $10 billion annually and employing an estimated 146,000 people across America.

Even with the industry’s size and stability, one question nags sugar business leaders: How to generate sustainable growth with something so ordinary?

Texas-based Imperial Sugar Company puts the question another way – and instead asks: How can you maximize the value of sugar to ensure total customer satisfaction?

This only makes sense since making and selling sugar—in any form – begins and ends with customers, and of course, their consumers.

To that end, Imperial Sugar Company President and CEO John Sheptor intends to maximize customer value and cultivate growth by:

• Partnering with customers to add value, differentiate Imperial, and solidify relationships.
• Enhancing Imperial’s sugar franchise profitability.
• Expanding participation in organic and natural foods and fair-trade channels.
• Growing presence and partnerships in Mexico, and maximizing the value of Imperial’s new cross-border joint venture.

Customers First and Always

Sheptor knows that growth in the sugar business is built on keeping customer commitments. And since Imperial Sugar is one of the largest and oldest refiners of pure cane sugar in America, with many relationships generations in the making, senior management and employees see building its business around customers as an imperative.

“Think of it as creating a clear line of sight,” Sheptor says. “We’ve completely aligned our retail, industrial and distributor sales to deliver quicker responses and tailored solutions to our customers. The result: better service to them and their consumers.”

Core or Essential Franchise Profitability

The second part of Imperial Sugar’s growth strategy – enhancing core or essential franchise profitability – calls for improved operational excellence to deliver higher quality products and services at lower cost.

This priority, however, was put to an unexpected and tragic test eight days after Sheptor took office, when an explosion and fire damaged Imperial Sugar’s Port Wentworth, Georgia, refinery and packaging facility. (The company also has production facilities in Gramercy, Louisiana; Ludlow, Kentucky; and at its headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas).

The refinery is in the process of reopening after more than a $200 million rebuild – with full capability expected to return this fall. The new refinery will redefine industry standards for worker and food safety, and production efficiencies.

Negotiations also are under way to form the Louisiana Sugar Refinery (LSR), a proposed joint venture with food giant Cargill, and a alliance of Bayou State sugar cane growers and millers. Together the partners will construct a state of the art sugar refinery in Louisiana.

The planned one-million ton capacity facility will share operational efficiencies with Imperial Sugar’s existing plant in Gramercy, cutting costs and boosting overall profitability.

With the completion of the Port Wentworth rebuild and the new LSR refinery, Imperial will own and participate in the two most modern and efficient sugar plants in the United States with new investments exceeding $300 million.

With new refining and packaging facilities the integration of Lean, Six Sigma and TPM manufacturing philosophies will be that more effective. Training and implementation of these excellence concepts continues.

Organic, Natural Foods Business

Increased profitability also is expected to come from Imperial Sugar’s third imperative – growth in the booming organic and natural food products market. The company increased its ownership to 50 percent in Wholesome Sweeteners, a joint venture with international food and agricultural products company Edward Billington & Sons (based in the UK).

Imperial Sugar expects to expand its already strong position in this increasingly popular sector. Featuring products like agave syrups and honey, Wholesome has grown at a compounded annual rate of 30 percent in the last seven years.

With demand for high-quality organic sweeteners climbing fast, there’s no reason to expect the growth of fair-trade certified products to slacken.

Since Imperial Sugar also has the option of acquiring the remaining 50 percent of Wholesome in 2010, the company is poised to see a potentially significant return from this targeted growth market.

Cross-Border Opportunities

A growing presence in Mexico completes the fourth and final strategic growth platform. With the start of free trade of sugar between the U.S. and Mexico in January 2008, Imperial Sugar has created a joint venture to capture cross-border opportunities.

Comercializadora Santos Imperial (CSI), is a collaboration between Imperial Sugar and Ingenios Santos S.A. de CV (Santos). It already has grown from three customers to now serve more than 110 industrial baking, confectionery and retail market customers – on both sides of the border.

In addition, CSI has signed a marketing agreement with the Machado group, a long-standing sugar family based in Mexico to represent two of their mills. The combined potential capacity available to CSI to sell from Santos and Machado production could reach 650,000 tons depending upon crop conditions or 12% of the Mexican industry.

“This is an unprecedented achievement in Imperial Sugar’s long history. It points to how our multi-dimensional strategy will drive growth,” says Sheptor.

Drop by your local supermarket and scan the shelves for brands of organic sugar or honey, for example. Spot any products with the words “Fair Trade Certified™” on the bag? Do you know what the black-and-white label stands for?

Simply put, it means the farmers who produced the food you’re holding in your hand – usually poorer farming communities in Latin America, Africa and Asia – are being given a fair shake in the marketplace.

The impact is far-reaching because this Fair Trade label on a product signifies a lot more than just a fair price. It also stands for fair labor conditions, eliminating middlemen wherever possible, environmental sustainability and control over investing revenues.

Coffee farmers first benefitted from this fair trade empowerment. Today, the Fair Trade Certified mark is appearing on more food products – such as rice, vanilla, chocolate, fresh fruit and sugar.

Out in front of this movement in the sugar industry is Wholesome Sweeteners, an Imperial Sugar joint venture. It’s the first major U.S. sweetener company to receive Fair Trade certification for sugar, and that distinction came four years ago.

Since then, the company has expanded its line of Fair Trade Certified products. In 2008, Wholesome Sweeteners introduced the first Fair Trade Honey to the USA: Organic Fair Trade Amber Honey and Organic Fair Trade Raw Honey.

Pauline McKee, a senior executive at Wholesome Sweeteners, explains: “Our unique honeys are produced by Mayan beekeepers in Southern Mexico, who are continuing in the traditions of their ancestors. The hives are located deep within the jungle and the bees forage on wildflowers. We worked directly with the farmers for two years to obtain Organic & Fair Trade certification for the co-ops.”

She points out: “We are the first company to export their honey to the USA and this brings much needed additional funds to the farming community.”

Wholesome Sweeteners’ Fair Trade Certified presence in the marketplace keeps growing. They have contributed more than $1.5 million in additional income to support sugar cane farmers and beekeepers of Malawi (Africa), Costa Rica, Paraguay and Mexico.

With the additional income, growers can compete with so-called “factory farms,” develop the quality of their crops, send their children to school and build thriving communities. That’s what a fair shake in the marketplace looks like, many times over, as its benefits resonate throughout these growers’ communities.

“Wholesome Sweeteners holds fast to a ‘Fair Trade, Not Aid’ philosophy,” says McKee. “This resonates well with our customers, who continue to choose Fair Trade products in increasing volumes. We believe it is important to have a successful dynamic business and still be a bastion for corporate social and environmental responsibility.”

It seems that a fair shake and good business do go hand in hand, as McKee says: “You really can make the world a sweeter place; one spoonful at a time.”

Read more about Wholesome Sweeteners. Click here.