Beet the recession - British Sugar
09/09/09
British Sugar Cantley: the enduring ‘Ship of the Marshes' 
On a day when unexpected tornados and hurricanes were devastating parts of America, I took advantage of an exceptionally mild February Spring day here in Norfolk and went to visit the British Sugar Factory at Cantley, just outside of Norwich. I was inspired to do this by a book I had just read entitled "Unknown Norfolk" by Donald Maxwell, published in 1925, in which there was a Chapter devoted to the burgeoning sugar industry in Cantley.
| Cantley sugar factory in 1925, sketched by Donald Maxwell |
When Donald Maxwell visited Cantley it was the middle of Winter but instead of the frozen deserted landscape he was expecting, he found a large number of people in yachts, wherries and houseboats camping out on the River Yare. On inquiring, he discovered that several hundred men were required in the works of the then English Beet Sugar Corporation at that time of the year to convert the beet harvest into sugar - and as there was little extra housing available in Cantley, workers travelling from Yarmouth, Norwich and further afield, availed themselves of the Broads yachts and wherries normally laid up for the winter. Maxwell was no mean illustrator and he included a picture of the ‘sugar works' at Cantley, seen from the river, as it was in 1925. I wanted to see if I could take a picture today from the same spot, so off I set with my camera. What I discovered, rising from the surrounding marshes like a mirage, was a thriving factory devoted to producing sugar from sugar beet to sell to the pharmaceutical, confectionary and other commercial enterprises. This successful operation has been going since 1912 - when the entire factory was bought second-hand and shipped over from Holland to be assembled here between March and November 1912. This was an ambitious and risky operation but dedication and hard work saw the factory at Cantley go into sugar production in November 1912. British Sugar is now a substantial business within Associated British Foods (ABF). It has operations in the UK, Poland, China and Southern Africa, which process some 4 million tonnes of sugar annually. It is recognised as the most efficient sugar producer in Europe and has a proven ability to create value through improvement in agricultural yields, operational efficiencies, co-product development, marketing and product innovation.
| ‘a river of beet' at Cantley, sketched by Donald Maxwell in 1925 |
What impresses me most about British Sugar is the Company's care for environmental sustainability and determination to recycle the bulk of the raw material used in the production of sugar from beet. The sugar beet itself, after the sugar is extracted, is marketed for high energy animal food. The final syrup from which no more sugar can be extracted is called Molasses and it is used as a feedstock by the fermentation industry. Nationally, British Sugar receives some 450,000 tonnes of soil every year along with the beet, and it is all removed and marketed to landscapers, architects and farmers, under the Top Soil brand name, thus ensuring that this valuable, non-renewable asset is used in a sustainable way. The 70,000 tonnes of stones in the soil delivered are separated, graded, washed and sold to the civil engineering and construction industry. The lime products produced as part of the purification processes are sold under the LimeX brand for soil conditioning.
So, how much energy is being used in all this recycling?
Most British Sugar factories use a combined heat and power system (CHP), which is one of the most fuel-efficient systems available. The Cantley factory produces its own electricity using the steam from the water-boilers to drive the turbines generating electricity to power the factory. Any surplus power is sold back to the national grid. Water, that other precious commodity, is also carefully controlled. More than 75% of a sugar beet is water, which requires extensive treatment - including aerobic and anaerobic digestion - before being returned to the environment. British Sugar reuses its water approximately 20 times before treatment and release, achieving a reduction of 40% in water usage; an impressive attempt to reduce the carbon footprint of the factory. In February 2008 British Sugar announced its involvement in the new Carbon Trust initiative to trial PAS 2050 - the standard for assessing the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services, currently being developed in partnership with the BSI British Standards and DEFRA. Peter Watson (British Sugar) said: "We are delighted to be involved in this initiative with the Carbon Trust. Our focus on reducing our energy usage has delivered significant results and we are keen to support the development of a common standard for carbon footprinting." I discovered something new about British Sugar too: it is the UK's largest grower of classic round salad tomatoes! The glasshouses at Cornerways Nurseries, situated by the British Sugar Wissington plant, cover 11 acres and over 70 million ‘eco friendly' tomatoes are produced annually between April and November. All the produce is packed on site, minimising handling and transport and allowing it to be despatched to supermarket shelves within twelve hours of being picked. This mutually beneficient relationship between sugar and tomatoes stems from the latter's need for carbon dioxide for photosynthesis which is produced as a by-product of the combined heat and power (CHP) boiler at Wissington and pumped into the enormous glasshouses rather than vented out into the atmosphere as waste emissions. The water used primarily to wash the sugar beet on its arrival from the farms, carries vital nutrients from Norfolk's soils and this is re-used to irrigate the tomato plants.
Today, British Sugar at Cantley is still enjoying its dominant position overlooking the marshes (see picture left). It is the silver spoon in Norfolk's treasury, providing sugar from local beet that is normally grown within 50 miles of the factory. No worries about unsustainable air-miles there then.
British Sugar also does a range of Fairtrade sugar produced under guaranteed Fairtrade standards. British Sugar holds a 51% share in Illovo Sugar Limited, the largest cane sugar producer in Africa and one of the world's lowest cost producers. BS Fairtrade sugar is sourced from Illovo Sugar in Malawi, one of the world's least developed countries. The Fairtrade premium paid by BS helps fund development projects such as providing safe drinking water, housing, electricity programmes and the building of community health clinics.
| Inspecting operation of weed catcher |
| Fitting screen into Limestone screener |
Back in Cantley, British Sugar has just taken on another six apprentices starting this September. The Company is looking ahead to the time when skilled staff will be retiring and they want to train technicians to be ready to step into their shoes. Providing the new apprentices fulfil all the requirements of their training package they are guaranteed a job as a technician in mechanical engineering. At present, three advanced engineering apprentices are working through their apprenticeships at Cantley: Shaun Jermy, Steven Parrette and Matt Goodrum. Steven gave up a University career to join British Sugar and is really enjoying the job and the challenge of studying for his higher national certificate (HNC) and NVQ3. In the pictures below Shaun and Steven are engaged in vital maintenance work on British Sugar's production equipment - so that the ‘ship of the marshes' can continue to process Norfolk beet to sweeten our lives.
| Steven and Shaun inspecting a wet pulp scroll |
An article by Marguerite Finn.
For more articles by Marguerite Finn please follow this link
If you wish to know more about apprenticeships then call 01603-401606 to speak to Jamie Cooper.
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