Celebrating Real Sugar Day with locals who make life a little sweeter

As the birthplace of the American sugarcane industry, Real Sugar Day has a special meaning to those of us who are fortunate to call Louisiana home. Again this year, the League partnered with The Sugar Association to highlight the role that sugar plays in a nutritious, balanced and enjoyable diet.

This year’s Real Sugar Day campaign included an invitation for people from across the country to tour sugarcane and sugar beet farms as well as a sugar mill and sugar factory to see firsthand how the plants are cultivated, harvested and processed. Participants were most surprised to learn that real sugar is entirely natural.

The campaign also featured Madison Saunier with the third-generation Guidry’s Cakery in Erath, 25-year old owner Madelyn Schmidt of Eloise Market and Cakery in Baton Rouge explaining how sugar ensures flavor, texture and moisture needed to make any birthday or wedding celebration complete.

The Melancon family farm in St. Martin Parish and Queen Sugar Kami Hamel shared videos of their own highlighting the importance of sugar and multi-generational family farms.

And we celebrated Olivia Stewart and Oxbow Rum Distillery winning two prestigious gold awards at an international competition in San Francisco for its sugarcane based fine sipping rums.

You can see these videos and pictures at the Louisiana Sugarcane Facebook page here.

Real Sugar Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate the impact of the sugar industry on our state and remind every one of its scope. Each year, the 11 sugar mills in Louisiana produce enough raw sugar to fill up half of the Louisiana Superdome and in 2022 alone, we produced the $1.9 million tons of raw sugar that contributed $4-billion to the state’s economy.