CEO of Sunshine Sugar Mr Chris Connors monitors the goings on in the Australian sugar sector with great interest, bemused and concerned of late about the overall disharmony in the Queensland cane industry.

Turmoil abounds in much of Queensland where grower’s sentiments are souring due to strained relationships with some millers, in particular Singaporean company Wilmar which owns over 50% of sugar milling production in Queensland and dominates the refined domestic market.

The simple fact that the growing and the milling of sugar cane are critically interwoven seems to be ignored – both growers and millers need to be sustainable and the relationships and decisions need to be managed at the local level. In some cases, that required relationship has clearly broken down.

In NSW the situation couldn’t be further removed. Sunshine Sugar’s partnership between local growers and Australian-owned business Manildra encompasses growing through to milling, refining and marketing of the end sugar products for the entire NSW sugar industry.

As a proactive supporter of employment-based learning for local youth, Sunshine Sugar takes on multiple apprentices and trainees across its three sites each year.

Sunshine Sugar CEO, Mr Chris Connors met this week with the 2017 intake of Apprentices at the Ballina Corporate Office, welcoming them to the business and instilling the virtues of the company values – Teamwork, Integrity, Excellence, Accountability and Safety.

Mr Chris Connors says; “These young people are the future of local business and industry. As one of the largest non-government employers in the northern rivers, we feel that it is both a responsibility and a privilege to provide hands-on, technical and practical skills needed to become qualified and prepared for the challenges of working life.”

Two local icons, SPAR Maclean and Sunshine Sugar have come together, with sugar grown right here in the Clarence Valley making its way onto the shelves of the SPAR Maclean Supermarket.

Cane farmers across the northern rivers are all smiles as recent rainfall and hot summer days provide the ideal growing conditions for sugar cane.