December 2016 - Around the Industry

Former American Crystal President Named Sugar Man of the Year

David Berg

David Berg, retired President and Chief Executive Officer of American Crystal Sugar Company, has been named the “Sugar Man of the Year – 2016”. A veteran of nearly three decades in the sugar industry, Berg will be presented with the Dyer Memorial Award at a ceremony in New York in December.

    During Berg’s tenure at American Crystal, he served in various positions including strategic planning, human resources, agriculture and operations. He was named President CEO in 2007 and retired from the Company in September of 2016. Throughout his career, Berg was directly involved in the company’s government relations efforts. He worked with other segments of the domestic sugar industry in passage of multiple farm bills, and was also instrumental in the industry’s case against Mexico for illegal trade practices in sugar.
    Berg is the 59th recipient of the Dyer Memorial Award, which is named after B.W. Dyer, a 114 year old brokerage company in sweeteners and other foods.

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Western Sugar to Cease Sugar Processing at Torrington Facility after 90 Years

    An era that began in 1926 is now in its final days as Western Sugar’s Torrington facility processes its last sugarbeet harvest. “In early 2015 we announced that we would be making significant investments in our Scottsbluff, Nebraska and Fort Morgan, Colorado facilities because we wanted to add some new technology and additional capacity at those locations,” said Vice President and General Counsel, Heather Luther. “It was decided that we would reduce the operations at Torrington because when we looked at where best to put the investment, it made the most sense to go with Scottsbluff and Fort Morgan due to the investment required and the logistics of where our sugarbeets are to those facilities.”
    The discontinuing of the sugar processing at the Torrington location means 86 employees will be laid off. However, the facility will still be operational in some capacity and will continue to employ roughly 22 workers. 
    “We added some investment into a packaging line so we will continue to package and store sugar at that facility,” continued Luther.
    As of now there is no set date as to when the Torrington processing facility will shut down. That all depends on how well the Scottsbluff and Fort Morgan plants transition to their new upgrades. As of now, the Torrington plant will remain in operation at least until mid-January. 
    “We recognize that the reduction in operations is not easy for our employees in that community, but we look forward to continuing the warehousing terminal operations there. We are happy about the successful completions of our investment projects so that we can improve the productivity and reliability at our other facilities.