Gitnux/Report 2026

Sugar Beet Industry Statistics

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Sugar Beet Industry Statistics
Samuel NorbergWritten by Samuel Norberg·Fact-checked by Maya Johansson
Published
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

An editor sets the topic, the inclusion criteria, and the evaluation framework before research starts.

02Source Research

AI search agents locate sources and extract each figure together with the document it came from.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 39 days

01 Industry overview

The sugar beet industry at a glance

The sugar beet industry produced about 294 million tonnes worldwide in 2024, with Russia, Germany and France together accounting for roughly 39% of output.

294M tonnes[89]
World production, 2024
121.6M tonnes[9]
EU production, 2024
35.14M tons[18]
U.S. production, 2025/26
39.5%[89]
Top three country share, 2024
Market size
In physical terms, global sugar beet production reached approximately 293.6 million tonnes in 2024. The European Union produced 121.6 million tonnes, making it the largest regional production base identified in the available data.[89][9]
Market share & regions
Europe produced about 197 million tonnes in 2024, equal to roughly two-thirds of the world total, while Asia produced 46.9 million tonnes and the Americas 34.4 million tonnes. The EU alone accounted for approximately 41% of global output.[89]
Segmentation
The industry is segmented geographically and by downstream use, with most beets processed into white sugar and related products. In the EU, sugar beet was the leading listed root crop in 2024 at 121.6 million tonnes, compared with 50.8 million tonnes of potatoes.[9][90]
Key players & concentration
Production is concentrated among a small group of countries: Russia produced 46.7 million tonnes in 2024, Germany 36.7 million and France 32.6 million. These three countries represented about 39.5% of global production, while major processors include Südzucker, Tereos, Nordzucker, British Sugar and regional cooperatives.[89][46]
Pricing
The EU average sugar beet price was €39.0 per tonne in marketing year 2024/25, down from €52.4 per tonne in 2023/24 but still above the €25.7 per tonne recorded in 2017/18. EU average white sugar prices were approximately €500 per tonne in August 2026.[91]
Trends, drivers & challenges
High sugar prices increased the attractiveness of beet cultivation and helped lift EU white sugar production from 15.6 million tonnes in 2023/24 to 16.6 million tonnes in 2024/25. Oversupply, weaker demand growth, falling world prices, drought and heat stress are now pressuring acreage and yields; EU beet area fell 12% in marketing year 2025/26.[92][93]
Consumer behavior & competition
EU sugar demand was stable at 15.3 million tonnes in marketing year 2024/25 even as production increased to 16.6 million tonnes, indicating that competition is being driven more by supply, price and processing efficiency than by rapidly expanding consumption. Südzucker reported 3.7 million tonnes of sugar sales in 2025/26, down from 4.4 million tonnes a year earlier.[92][46]
Regulation
EU pesticide rules remain a major operating issue: following the European Court of Justice ruling of 19 January 2023, EU member states cannot grant emergency authorisations for neonicotinoid use in sugar beet. The EU also uses market-monitoring rules requiring reporting of beet and white sugar prices, cultivated area and production.[94][92]
Latest news
The USDA’s May 2026 outlook projected U.S. 2026/27 beet sugar production at 4.722 million short tons raw value, about 300,000 short tons below the prior year and the lowest level since 2019/20. In November 2026, Michigan Sugar reported that excessive spring precipitation, summer dryness and root aphid pressure were contributing to a below-average crop outlook.[18][93]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Sugar Beet Industry

The leading companies in the sugar beet industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 10, 2026 · Next review December 10, 2026

Verdict

KWS leads Gitnux's 2026 sugar beet ranking with an Overall score of 9.1, with €871.8 million Sugarbeet Segment net sales in fiscal 2024/25. Royal Cosun is the highest-ranked sugar cooperative at 8.8, with €515 million EBITDA before members’ bonus in 2024.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in sugar beet seed breeding

    KWS

    DE

    Ranked #1 · 9.1 · Sugar beet seed breeding

    Why we picked it: It sells sugar beet seed through a global breeding and development pipeline, backed by segment net sales.

    See in ranking ↓Visit kws.com ↗

  2. Leader in cooperative sugar processing

    Royal Cosun

    NL

    Ranked #2 · 8.8 · Cooperative sugar processing

    Why we picked it: It processes beets under Cosun Beet Company and reports 2024 EBITDA before members’ bonus.

    See in ranking ↓Visit cosun.nl ↗

  3. Leader in beet sugar processing

    Südzucker

    DE

    Ranked #3 · 8.4 · Beet sugar processing

    Why we picked it: It is a core European processor, processing about 25 million tonnes of beets in fiscal 2025/26.

    See in ranking ↓Visit suedzuckergroup.com ↗

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Picks 2 and 3 are the highest-ranked companies in the top 5 that add a new segment.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 10 companies in the sugar beet industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

KWS

Sugar beet seed breeding · DE

9.1
2

Royal Cosun

Cooperative sugar processing · NL

8.8
3

Südzucker

Beet sugar processing · DE

8.4
4

Tereos

Ethanol and starch processing · FR

8.2
5

American Crystal Sugar Company

Cooperative sugar processing · US

8.2
6

Amalgamated Sugar

Beet sugar processing in the western United States · US

8.2
7

Michigan Sugar Company

Beet sugar processing in Michigan and Ontario · US

8.1
8

Cristal Union

French beet sugar, alcohol and ethanol · FR

8.1
9

Nordzucker

Beet sugar production across Europe · DE

7.8
10

Pfeifer & Langen

European beet sugar and co-products · DE

7.6

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).
  • Performance (20%): recent revenue growth and operating margin; an analyst assessment where a company does not publish them.
  • Momentum (20%): growth trajectory and future potential.
  • Innovation (15%): R&D intensity and how technologically advanced the company is.

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 10, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Top 10 companies in the sugar beet industry. In Sugar Beet Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/sugar-beet-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Projection

Sugar beet harvested production (European Union)

Sugar beet harvested production grew from 113 million tonnes in 2019 to 122 million tonnes in 2024.

113 million tonnes
Start
+1.54%
CAGR · 5y
122 million tonnes
Projected
20192024
source-verifiedec.europa.eu2024

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

Field automation shows measurable outputs: a UAV seedling-recognition system reported 43.3 MB final model size, and an autonomous trial reported 90 tonnes per hectare.

AI in the sugar beet industry

  • 3.6 percentage points was the accuracy improvement produced by an improved UAV seedling-recognition model for sugar beet.[1]
  • 8 minutes was the processing cycle selected for the deployed YOLOX-L weed-detection model in sugar-beet fields.[2]
  • 43.3 MB was the final model size of a UAV-based sugar-beet seedling-recognition system.[1]
  • 0.8423 intersection-over-union was achieved by a deep-learning model for sugar-beet and weed semantic segmentation.[2]
  • 96.06% accuracy was achieved by a ResNet50-U-Net model segmenting sugar beet, weeds and soil.[2]
  • 5,734 high-resolution images were collected for a deep-learning weed-detection dataset in sugar-beet fields.[2]

Automation in the sugar beet industry

  • Up to 80% lower herbicide costs were projected for the autonomous sugar-beet planting and weeding system tested in the United Kingdom.[3]
  • €8,663 per year was the mean return on total costs for herbicide spraying on a conventional sugar-beet farm in Bavaria.[4]
  • €57,728 per year was the mean gross return for herbicide spraying on a conventional sugar-beet farm in Bavaria.[4]
  • 90 tonnes per hectare was the sugar-beet yield reported from an autonomous planting and weeding trial in the United Kingdom.[3]
  • €59,176 per year was the mean gross return for non-robotic mechanical weeding on an organic sugar-beet farm in Bavaria.[4]
  • 92–94% of weeds were controlled by three robotic hoeing systems tested in sugar beet and winter oilseed rape in southwestern Germany.[5]

Digital Transformation in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 51.2% had very low digital intensity in 2023, down from 55.1% in 2021.[6]
  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 3.4% had very high digital intensity in 2023, compared with 2.1% in 2021.[6]
  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 15.4% had high digital intensity in 2023, compared with 13.0% in 2021.[6]
  • Across the EU agri-food industrial ecosystem, 20% of companies had a concrete digital-transformation strategy in 2024.[6]
  • In the United States, 61% of farmers reported adopting digital agronomy technologies in 2024.[7]

Technology Adoption in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • In Chile, 12% of agricultural production units reported using a technological tool such as mobile applications, drones, or sensors in 2021.[8]
  • In Czechia, 30% of crop-production farmers used at least one precision-agriculture technology in 2023.[8]
  • In Canada, 84% of field-crop operations used GPS equipment in 2021.[8]
  • Across EU farms, 43% had internet access, 11% used farm-management information systems, and 7% used robotics in 2023.[8]
  • In Germany, 85.5% of surveyed farms used at least one digital technology in 2024–2025.[8]
  • Across EU farms with utilised agricultural area, about 18% used some form of precision-farming technology or practice in 2023.[8]

Cloud Computing in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Among EU large businesses, 78% purchased cloud-computing services in 2023, compared with 44% of SMEs.[9]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 26% used cloud computing in 2023.[6]
  • Across EU businesses, 45% purchased cloud-computing services in 2023.[9]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 37% used cloud computing in 2024, up from 26% in 2023.[6]

Big Data in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 13% used big-data technologies in 2024, compared with 17% in 2023.[6]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 17% used big-data technologies in 2023.[6]
  • In Germany, 5.0% of surveyed farms used artificial-intelligence or big-data technologies in 2024–2025.[8]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Remote sensing and forecasting are reported with quantified accuracy: below 5% mean absolute percentage error for tonnage, sucrose content and polarization forecasts in 2024.

Business intelligence in the sugar beet industry

  • More than 0.96 R-squared was achieved when UAV canopy observations were transferred to an ultralight-aircraft sensor system in both study years.[1]
  • 17 sugar beet remote-sensing publications were recorded in 2021, according to the review’s annual publication analysis.[1]
  • 15 sugar beet remote-sensing publications were recorded in 2023, according to the review’s annual publication analysis.[1]
  • More than 0.97 R-squared was achieved for UAV-based sugar beet canopy-cover retrieval in a two-year study summarized in the 2026 review.[1]
  • 15 sugar beet remote-sensing publications were recorded in 2020, according to the review’s annual publication analysis.[1]
  • Below 5% mean absolute percentage error was achieved for tonnage, sucrose content and polarization forecasts in Western High Plains sugar beet fields in 2024.[10]

Data analytics in the sugar beet industry

  • 4 data modalities—thermal, hyperspectral, RGB and depth imagery—are combined in the ADA 2025 sugar beet water-deficit dataset.[11]
  • 2019–2023 satellite and field measurements were combined to model beet-yellows disease severity and spread in France.[11]
  • 3 target variables—tonnage, sucrose content and polarization—were forecast by the Western High Plains sugar beet model in 2024.[10]
  • 5 machine-learning models were compared for UAV-based sugar beet canopy-SPAD prediction in China in 2023.[12]
  • 6 machine-learning and deep-learning application areas were identified in the review, including disease detection, weed mapping, yield prediction, quality prediction, trait retrieval and precision management.[1]
  • 670–700 nanometres and 830–1,000 nanometres were identified as key spectral regions for sugar beet soilborne-disease analysis in a 2025 machine-learning study.[13]

Data Quality in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 41% of manufacturers said they distrusted the data used for supply-chain operations in 2025, reflecting persistent data-quality concerns in production and procurement.[14]
  • 42% of manufacturers reported having a process to verify operational data accuracy or quality in 2025, indicating that most lacked a formal validation process.[15]
  • 44% of manufacturers reported that AI projects had failed because of poor data quality in 2025, according to a survey of manufacturing organizations.[14]
  • 49% of manufacturing respondents rated their operational data as having low AI readiness in 2024, meaning it was insufficiently labeled, contextualized, governed or accessible.[15]
  • 30% of manufacturing respondents identified poor-quality data as one of their top three challenges when working with AI-related data in 2024.[15]

Data Governance in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 61% of manufacturers reported having a corporate-wide governance plan, strategy or formal guidelines for how data is collected, organized, accessed and used in 2024.[15]
  • 6% of food and beverage leaders reported fully integrated digital systems in 2025, despite 82% saying technology adoption was a strategic priority.[16]
  • 69% of food and beverage companies still relied on spreadsheets and email for core operations in 2025, limiting standardized access and control of business data.[16]
  • 61% of supply-management organizations reported having a dedicated data-governance function in 2024, while 90% agreed that data governance was necessary.[17]
  • 40% of food and beverage professionals worldwide identified disconnected systems and data as their biggest barrier to moving faster in 2026.[16]
  • 15% of manufacturers said their data strategy was entirely aligned with their overall business strategy in 2024, while 31% said it was very closely aligned.[15]

KPIs in the sugar beet industry

  • 5.354 million short tons raw value was United States crop-year beet sugar production in 2024/25.[18]
  • 17.4% was the average sugar content of Tereos-contracted French sugar beet in 2023/24.[19]
  • 72.8 tonnes per hectare was the average sugar beet yield on Tereos-contracted French hectares in 2023/24.[19]
  • 15.0% was Astarta’s average sugar yield in 2024.[20]
  • 133 days was Astarta’s sugar production campaign duration in Ukraine in 2024.[20]
  • 14 million tonnes of sugar beet were processed in France by Tereos in 2023/24.[19]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Capacity and throughput themes show up in processing benchmarks, including Rusagro’s maximum processing capacity of 53.4 thousand tonnes of sugar beet per day.

Growth in the sugar beet industry

  • 53.4 thousand tonnes of sugar beet per day was Rusagro’s maximum processing capacity at the end of 2024.[21]
  • 33.2 tons per acre was the projected U.S. sugarbeet yield for crop year 2025/26.[18]
  • 121.6 million tonnes of sugar beet were harvested in the European Union in 2024.[9]
  • 18.4 million tonnes of sugar beet were harvested in Poland in 2024, an 8.8% increase from 2023.[9]
  • 2.0 million tonnes was the increase in France’s sugar beet production in 2024, representing 6.6% growth from 2023.[9]
  • 122 million tonnes of sugar beet were produced in the European Union in 2024, up from approximately 110 million tonnes in 2023.[9]

Differentiation in the sugar beet industry

  • 80 million pounds of additional annual sugar output is enabled by Michigan Sugar’s molasses desugarization facility.[22]
  • $109 million was invested by Michigan Sugar in its molasses desugarization facility, its largest single capital investment.[22]
  • 4,100 tonnes of organic sugar were produced at AGRANA’s Hrušovany plant in the Czech Republic in 2024/25.[23]
  • 153 GWh per year is the planned maximum biomethane capacity of TotalEnergies’ BioNorrois project using sugar beet pulp.[24]
  • 958 hectares of organic sugar beet were grown for Tereos in France in crop year 2022/23.[19]
  • 96% is the certified organic alcohol purity offered by Tereos from French sugar beet for perfume and cosmetics applications.[19]

Mergers and acquisitions in the sugar beet industry

  • Approximately 12 million tonnes of sugar were moved annually by Alvean when Copersucar acquired Cargill’s stake.[25]
  • 50% of Alvean was acquired by Copersucar from Cargill in 2021, making Copersucar the sole owner.[25]
  • 100% of the Deleplanque Group, including Strube and Van Waveren, was acquired by RAGT in 2025.[26]
  • 600,000 tonnes of sugar beet per year are processed by the Lesaffre Frères plant acquired by Cristal Union.[27]
  • 100% of the Société de Participations Industrielles was acquired by Cristal Union in the 2025 transaction involving Lesaffre Frères.[27]
  • 110 employees worked at the Lesaffre Frères sugar plant acquired by Cristal Union in 2025.[27]

Strategic partnerships in the sugar beet industry

  • 22 countries were covered by DLF Seeds when it entered the United Beet Seeds joint venture with Florimond Desprez.[28]
  • 817,000 tonnes of sugar beet were supplied by third parties to Astarta in 2024, up 16% year on year.[23]
  • 1 funding award was made jointly to British Sugar, Tropic and the John Innes Centre to develop virus-yellows-resistant sugar beet technology.[29]
  • More than 2,000 employees were represented by DLF Seeds in the United Beet Seeds partnership.[28]
  • 112 farming partners supplied Astarta’s sugar beet business in 2024.[23]
  • 5,500 tonnes of chemical fertilizer per year are expected to be avoided through the TotalEnergies–Cristal Union biogas partnership.[24]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Workforce levels are campaign-driven, with 24,083 workers directly employed by the European beet sugar industry during the 2021/22 processing campaign.

Hiring in the sugar beet industry

  • 882 seasonal jobs were reported by processors in the Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota sugar beet industry during the 2021/2022 campaign.[30]
  • 5,448 seasonal workers were employed by the European beet sugar industry during the 2021/22 campaign.[31]
  • 100 general laborers were the hiring target for Michigan Sugar Company’s harvest season in Michigan, United States, in 2022.[32]
  • 24,083 workers were directly employed by the European beet sugar industry during the 2021/22 processing campaign.[31]
  • 18,635 permanent workers were employed by the European beet sugar industry during the 2021/22 campaign.[31]

Employee retention in the sugar beet industry

  • 4,600 fewer people were directly employed by the European sugar sector in 2021/22 than in 2017/18, the first post-quota year.[31]
  • 925 fewer permanent workers were employed in the European beet sugar sector in 2021/22 than in 2020/21.[31]
  • 13.7% was the reported employee turnover rate in Sucden’s Russian sugar operations in 2022.[33]
  • 85 fewer seasonal workers were employed in the European beet sugar sector in 2021/22 than in 2020/21.[31]
  • 60% of the seasonal workforce returned each year for sugar beet work in Minnesota, United States, according to a 2023 industry report.[34]

Remote Work in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.S. crop and animal production, 14.4% of workers worked remotely in 2021, compared with 14.7% in 2019 and 15.4% in 2020.[35]
  • Across U.S. agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, about 12% of workers worked remotely during October 2023–September 2024, including hybrid and fully remote work.[36]
  • Across U.S. accommodation and food services, 4.8% of workers worked remotely in 2021, up from 1.9% in 2019 and 5.3% in 2020.[35]
  • Across U.S. agriculture and food employers, 35% offered some type of remote-work arrangement in 2024, according to AgCareers’ industry hiring report.[37]

Hybrid Work in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 21% of Australian FMCG and agribusiness professionals reported working fully remotely in 2024.[38]
  • 84% of Australian agribusiness organisations planned no change to existing flexible or hybrid work arrangements in 2026.[39]
  • 44% of Australian FMCG and agribusiness professionals preferred part-time remote work in 2024.[38]
  • 13% of Australian FMCG and agribusiness professionals preferred full-time on-site work in 2024.[38]
  • Among science-of-food professionals surveyed in 2024, 36% reported having no work-at-home days per week.[40]

Upskilling in the sugar beet industry

  • Over 300 employees had taken part in Ubombo Sugar’s reported development initiative by 2025.[41]
  • 100 agronomists, crop advisers and seed researchers supported American Crystal Sugar’s grower expertise and sugar beet research network.[30]
  • 80% of ABF Sugar apprentices remained with the business after 10 years, indicating a long-term outcome from its apprenticeship training.[41]
  • More than 100 employees attended AB Sugar leadership development programmes in the group’s reported African business training initiative.[42]
  • 18 months is the duration of ABF Sugar’s Senior Management Development Programme for current and emerging manufacturing and agriculture leaders in Africa.[41]

Employee Engagement in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • At Europe Snacks, a multinational food manufacturer, employee engagement reached 79% across its international workforce and 88% in its UK business after a structured listening program.[43]
  • Employees in manufacture, distribution and storage organizations scored 59.3% on leadership in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[43]
  • Employees in manufacture, distribution and storage organizations scored 60.9% on enablement in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[43]
  • In the agriculture industry, employees averaged 7.68 out of 10 for engagement and an eNPS of +5 in CultureMonkey’s 2026 benchmark.[44]
  • Manufacture, distribution and storage organizations recorded an average employee-engagement score of 72.9% in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[43]

DEI in the sugar beet industry

  • 22,117 men worked in ABF Sugar businesses in 2026.[41]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Contracting and supply volumes remain central, including 26,000 beet growers supplying Südzucker Group in fiscal 2025/26 under long-term contract-farming arrangements.

Customer experience in the sugar beet industry

  • 32.8 million net tons of beets were sliced by U.S. beet processors in fiscal year 2024.[45]
  • 3.9 million tonnes of consolidated sugar were sold by Südzucker Group in fiscal 2023/24, down 8.3% year on year.[46]
  • 26,000 beet growers supplied Südzucker Group and its subsidiaries in Europe in fiscal 2025/26 under long-term contract-farming arrangements.[46]
  • 338 MWh of energy were used per 100 tonnes of sugar produced by British Sugar in 2024/25, a customer-facing sustainability measure for its sugar supply chain.[47]
  • 32% of Astarta’s sugar beet supply came from third-party growers in 2024, up from 26% in 2023.[20]

Customer retention in the sugar beet industry

  • 26,000 European beet growers supplied Südzucker Group and subsidiaries in fiscal 2025/26 through annual supply contracts.[46]
  • Several hundred beet growers in Belgium and France joined Südzucker’s regenerative-agriculture program during fiscal 2025/26.[46]
  • 43,300 EU beet growers exited sugar beet cultivation between 2013/14 and 2023/24, indicating long-term contraction in the grower customer base.[31]
  • 2,300 British Sugar growers were involved in the 2024/25 contracting process, with a significant number signing the initial offer before negotiations paused.[48]
  • 98,070 EU growers supplied sugar factories in 2023/24, compared with 97,909 in 2022/23, a year-on-year increase of 161 growers.[31]

Customer acquisition in the sugar beet industry

  • €871.8 million was KWS Sugarbeet Segment net sales in fiscal 2024/25, reflecting the commercial scale of its seed customer acquisition market.[49]
  • 28,000 acres was the normal Alberta sugar beet planting area before the 2025 contract reduced the planned acreage.[50]
  • 112 farming partners supplied Astarta in 2024 as the company developed its contractor base for sugar beet procurement.[20]
  • Several hundred growers joined Südzucker’s regenerative cultivation program in Belgium and France during fiscal 2025/26.[46]
  • 62.2% of KWS Sugarbeet Segment net sales came from Europe in fiscal 2024/25, its largest regional customer market.[49]

Customer loyalty in the sugar beet industry

  • KWS sustainable sugarbeet innovations represented 61% of Sugarbeet Segment sales in fiscal 2024/25, supporting repeat demand for differentiated seed products.[51]
  • 817,000 tonnes of beet were delivered by Astarta’s third-party growers in 2024, up 16% year on year.[20]
  • 2,300 growers were connected with British Sugar’s 2024/25 contract process, with many signing the original offer before negotiations were paused.[48]
  • Annual supply contracts were used by Südzucker to define beet-delivery conditions, prices and obligations for growers in fiscal 2025/26.[46]
  • Astarta’s third-party beet supply increased from 26% in 2023 to 32% in 2024, indicating stronger participation by external growers.[20]

Lead generation in the sugar beet industry

  • €865 million was KWS Sugarbeet Segment net sales in fiscal 2023/24, supported by demand for its innovative seed portfolio.[52]
  • More than half of KWS Sugarbeet Segment sales came from CONVISO SMART and CR+ innovations in fiscal 2023/24.[52]
  • 189 new sugarbeet variety approvals were secured by KWS in fiscal 2025/26, expanding its product-led sales pipeline.[52]
  • 2,300 British Sugar growers were part of the 2024/25 contracting outreach process.[48]
  • Approximately 70% was KWS’s global sugarbeet seed market share reported for fiscal 2023/24.[53]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Digital reach metrics are used alongside operations, including 1,463% year-on-year email-session growth for Xbeet enrich 200 campaign activity.

Marketing in the sugar beet industry

  • 3,496 U.S. farms grew sugarbeets in 2017, down from 3,913 farms in 2012, while average harvested area per farm rose to 329 acres.[54]
  • 16.18% was the average sugar content of EU beets in the 2024/25 campaign, down 0.18 percentage points from the prior year.[31]
  • 24,839 workers were directly employed in EU sugar production during the 2023/24 beet-processing campaign, including 19,839 permanent and 5,000 seasonal workers.[31]
  • 7.77 million adjusted tonnes of sugarbeets were processed by British Sugar’s four factories during the 2019/20 campaign.[47]
  • $38.30 per ton was the average U.S. sugarbeet price in 2019, when the crop generated approximately $1 billion in production value.[54]

Digital marketing in the sugar beet industry

  • 80% of orders shifted to the newer Xbeet enrich 200 product after Germains’ multimedia campaign targeting the British sugarbeet industry.[55]
  • 3,500 sugar beet farmers were the approximate addressable grower audience in Britain for Germains’ Xbeet enrich 200 digital campaign.[55]
  • 117 email addresses were collected in Germains Seed Technology’s Xbeet enrich 200 digital campaign, exceeding its initial 50–100-contact target.[55]
  • 2,300 British growers supplied the factories whose database was used to distribute Germains’ sugarbeet campaign newsletter to industry decision-makers.[55]
  • 1,463% was the year-on-year increase in email sessions during Germains Seed Technology’s Xbeet enrich 200 sugarbeet campaign.[55]

Branding in the sugar beet industry

  • 100% of sugar beet components were used in Südzucker’s organic beet-sugar production claim, supporting its zero-waste brand positioning.[56]
  • 87% of German respondents said they would definitely or probably buy the fruit yogurt made with organic beet sugar.[56]
  • 88% of French consumers rated the organic beet-sugar yogurt concept as appealing or very appealing.[56]
  • 89% of French consumers rated the organic cane-sugar yogurt concept as appealing or very appealing.[56]
  • 88% of French respondents said they were at least likely to buy the comparable fruit yogurt made with organic cane sugar.[56]

Social media in the sugar beet industry

  • 26,536 LinkedIn followers were listed for British Sugar, a company producing sugar from UK-grown sugarbeets, when the page was crawled in 2026.[57]
  • 293% was the year-on-year rise in social sessions during Germains Seed Technology’s Xbeet enrich 200 campaign for the British sugarbeet market.[55]
  • 3,500 British sugarbeet farmers formed the approximate target audience for Germains’ social-media and digital campaign.[55]
  • 1,463% was the year-on-year increase in email sessions generated alongside social-media activity in Germains’ sugarbeet campaign.[55]
  • 22.5 million impressions were generated by Diamant Zucker’s sustainability campaign across website and social-media channels in Germany during September–October 2023.[58]

Influencer Marketing in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Food and drink influencer content generated 392 billion impressions globally in 2023.[59]
  • Food and drink influencer content generated 42.7 billion engagements globally in 2023.[59]
  • Food and drink influencer posts achieved a 1.19% average engagement rate globally in 2023.[59]
  • 11.5 million influencer posts covered food and drink globally in 2023, according to Sprout Social’s benchmark dataset.[59]
  • Food and drink influencer content produced an estimated $122 billion in earned media value globally in 2023.[59]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Plant utilization and campaign timing matter, with Nordzucker reporting a 137-day beet campaign length in 2023/24.

Process optimization in the sugar beet industry

  • 75 million litres of ethanol can be produced at British Sugar’s Wissington site from processed sugar beet.[47]
  • £300 million has been invested by British Sugar over five years in energy reduction, anaerobic digestion, storage flexibility and environmental projects at four factories.[47]
  • 22 tonnes of CO2 per day can be saved by Nordzucker’s new extraction tower at its Schladen, Germany, factory during the campaign.[60]
  • 10,500 tonnes of sugar beet per day is the designed processing capacity of Nordzucker’s new Schladen extraction tower in Germany.[60]
  • 15% was the processing slowdown at Tereos plants in the Nord and Origny regions during the rainy 2023/24 campaign.[19]

Operational efficiency in the sugar beet industry

  • 137 days was Nordzucker’s beet campaign length in 2023/24.[60]
  • 120 days was Nordzucker’s beet campaign length in 2020/21.[60]
  • 338 MWh per 100 tonnes of sugar was British Sugar’s energy use in 2024/25.[47]
  • 208 days was the duration of British Sugar’s 2019/20 campaign, the longest uninterrupted European sugar beet campaign reported by the company.[47]
  • 113 days was Nordzucker’s beet campaign length in 2019/20.[60]

Quality management in the sugar beet industry

  • 18.0% was Nordzucker’s group sugar content in 2022/23.[60]
  • 16.8% was Nordzucker’s group sugar content in the 2024/25 campaign.[60]
  • 17.4% was Nordzucker’s group sugar content in 2019/20.[60]
  • 17.7% was Nordzucker’s group sugar content in 2020/21.[60]
  • 16.55% was Tereos’ average sugar content in France during the 2023/24 beet campaign.[19]

Supply chain in the sugar beet industry

  • 28 miles is the average farm-to-factory distance for growers supplying British Sugar’s Wissington plant.[47]
  • 8 million tonnes of sugar beet are sourced annually by British Sugar from East Anglia, the East Midlands and Yorkshire.[47]
  • About 80 km is the typical sourcing radius around Südzucker’s sugar factories for directly contracted beet supplies.[46]
  • Over 1,000 growers supply British Sugar’s Wissington factory.[47]
  • 600-plus growers supplied Tereos’ Czech sugar factories across nearly 40,000 hectares in the 2024/25 campaign.[19]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 85% of Canadian food and beverage companies processed or manufactured products internally in 2020, while 13% both produced internally and outsourced production.[61]
  • About 12% of firms in the 11-country World Bank Firm-level Adoption of Technology sample outsourced at least one food-processing function, compared with about 18% in apparel.[62]
  • 19% of surveyed Queensland food-processing businesses contracted work out in 2010, while 28% contracted work in and 15% did both.[63]
  • 66% of Queensland food-processing businesses engaged in contract manufacturing to some extent in 2010, including contracting work in or out.[63]
  • 49% of U.S. growers surveyed outsourced at least some farm work to third-party service providers in 2022, with spraying services the most commonly outsourced activity.[64]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Pricing and cost benchmarks are tied to contract structures; EU average sugar beet price was €39.0 per tonne in marketing year 2024/25.

Pricing strategy in the sugar beet industry

  • £37 per tonne was the core price offered under British Sugar’s 2024/25 Yield Protection contract.[47]
  • £48 per adjusted tonne was the United Kingdom’s average sugar beet market price in 2023.[65]
  • $66.30 per tonne was the 2025 Alberta sugar beet price based on 17.3% sugar under the Rogers Sugar grower contract.[50]
  • £38 per tonne was British Sugar’s core price offer for the United Kingdom’s 2024/25 sugar beet crop.[47]
  • £32 per tonne was the enhanced base price available to British Sugar growers who did not select the 2024/25 enhanced multi-year contract.[3]

Cost reduction in the sugar beet industry

  • €3,261 per hectare was Germany’s complete sugar beet production cost in 2023, equivalent to €40.30 per tonne.[66]
  • $1,485 per acre was the 2024 total sugar beet production cost in the United States, comprising $1,284 direct expenses and $201 fixed overhead.[67]
  • €3,479 per hectare was France’s complete sugar beet production cost in 2023, equivalent to €41.90 per tonne.[66]
  • $1,013 per acre was the 2021 total sugar beet production cost in the United States, comprising $933 direct expenses and $80 fixed overhead.[67]
  • $1,234 per acre was the 2023 total sugar beet production cost in the United States, comprising $1,013 direct expenses and $221 fixed overhead.[67]

Profitability in the sugar beet industry

  • €117 million was Cosun’s 2024 net result.[68]
  • €74 million was Cosun’s members’ bonus for sugar beet supplied during the 2024/25 season.[68]
  • €515 million was Cosun’s 2024 EBITDA before members’ bonus.[68]
  • £3,382 per hectare was total sugar beet output in England in 2023/24.[69]
  • £2,165 per hectare was the sugar beet gross margin in England in 2023/24.[69]

Financial planning in the sugar beet industry

  • £40 per tonne was the British Sugar 2023/24 contract price used to calculate growers’ potential cash advances.[3]
  • £38 per tonne was British Sugar’s guaranteed core price for its 2024/25 sugar beet contract.[47]
  • €231 million was Cosun’s investment spending in 2023.[68]
  • 373,800 hectares was Südzucker’s sugar beet cultivation area in 2024/25.[46]
  • 3.9 million tonnes was Südzucker’s total sugar production, including raw sugar refining, in 2024/25.[46]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Breeding and processing pipeline metrics appear together, including 189 new sugar beet variety approvals secured by KWS in fiscal 2025/26.

Product development in the sugar beet industry

  • 360 KWS research-and-development professionals work on sugar beet-specific projects worldwide.[51]
  • 189 new sugar beet variety approvals were secured by KWS in fiscal 2025/26 worldwide.[52]
  • 18 KWS breeding stations worldwide support sugar beet product development.[51]
  • 10,000 sugar beet inbred lines are grown each year by KWS for variety development.[51]
  • 100 sugar beet varieties are approved worldwide each year through KWS breeding and development activities.[51]

Product lifecycle in the sugar beet industry

  • 128 days was AGRANA's average sugar beet processing campaign in 2025/26.[70]
  • 338 megawatt-hours per 100 tonnes of sugar produced was British Sugar's energy use in 2024/25.[47]
  • 20–100 days or more is the typical storage period for sugar beets before processing at a beet sugar plant.[71]
  • AGRANA's five beet sugar factories processed slightly more than 33,600 tonnes of beet per day in 2025/26.[70]
  • 8 million tonnes of sugar beet are sourced annually by British Sugar from UK growing regions.[47]

After-sales in the sugar beet industry

  • Three grower-support elements—training, yield guarantees and local premiums—were included in British Sugar's revised 2023/24 contract offer.[41]
  • Around 100 American Crystal Sugar agronomists, crop advisers and seed researchers provide growers with production guidance.[30]
  • 25% was the cash advance included in British Sugar's 2023/24 grower contract to support farmer cash flow.[41]
  • 25% of American Crystal Sugar's workforce is promoted each year through its employee-development system.[30]
  • Around 3,000 British Sugar growers received support through the company's field-to-factory grower program in the UK.[41]

Value proposition in the sugar beet industry

  • 32.9 million tonnes of sugar beet were harvested in France in 2024/25.[72]
  • 58% more sugar was produced on 20% fewer acres by American Crystal Sugar compared with 20 years earlier.[30]
  • 16.6% was AGRANA's average sugar content in harvested beets in 2025/26.[70]
  • 11.21 tonnes per hectare was the EU average sugar yield in 2024/25.[31]
  • 23,000 French growers supplied the sugar beet industry in the 2024/25 campaign.[72]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Residues and footprint measures are quantified, including 70 kilograms of dry-matter sugar-beet pulp produced per 1 tonne of sugar-beet roots.

Sustainability in the sugar beet industry

  • 465 hectares across 8 farms were included in Iscal’s Soil Capital carbon-capture pilot, including 75 hectares of sugar beet.[73]
  • 38% of harvested U.S. sugar-beet acreage was irrigated in 2008, according to Field to Market’s sugar-beet sustainability indicators.[74]
  • 6 farms participated in Suntory Beverage & Food Europe’s initial regenerative-agriculture pilot focused on sugar-beet production in France.[75]
  • Sugar-beet systems in the United States produced approximately 9 tons of soil loss per acre annually in recent reporting years.[74]
  • 279 liters per kilogram of beet sugar was the reported consumptive water footprint in France, the lowest among the European countries assessed.[76]

ESG in the sugar beet industry

  • 63,000 hectares was the harvested sugar-beet area reported by AGRANA for the 2025 crop year.[70]
  • 66,000 hectares was the sugar-beet acreage covered by AGRANA contract farmers in the 2025 crop year.[70]
  • 28 Südzucker plants were located in areas with high or very high water stress in fiscal 2023/24.[46]
  • 19.7 million cubic meters was Südzucker AG’s water discharge in fiscal 2023/24.[46]
  • 4,800 farmers held AGRANA sugar-beet contracts for the 2025 crop year.[70]

CSR in the sugar beet industry

  • $209.5 million in labor income was generated in the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative’s 20-county region in 2021.[77]
  • $177 million was spent by Southern Minnesota sugar-beet growers to plant, grow and harvest their crop in 2021.[77]
  • 4,900 jobs were supported by the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative in its 20-county regional economy in 2021.[77]
  • $47.6 million in state and local tax collections was associated with the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative and its growers in 2021.[77]
  • 5,290 jobs were supported by the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative across Minnesota in 2021.[77]

Circular economy in the sugar beet industry

  • 25% dry matter was the approximate content of EU beet pulp produced during sugar extraction on the 2018/19–2022/23 average.[78]
  • 70 kilograms of dry-matter sugar-beet pulp are produced by processing 1 tonne of sugar-beet roots, according to a European review.[12]
  • Approximately 22 million tonnes of beet pulp were produced annually from EU sugar extraction on the 2018/19–2022/23 average.[78]
  • 140 cubic meters of biogas per tonne of fresh beet pulp is an approximate production rate reported for sugar-industry residues.[79]
  • 100 million tonnes per year is the estimated global availability of sugar-beet pulp for valorization routes in a 2026 study.[2]

Carbon footprint in the sugar beet industry

  • 0.06–0.12 kilograms of CO2-equivalent per kilogram of beet was the reported farm-gate range for Central European beet production in the cited review.[1]
  • 0.00948 kilograms of CO2-equivalent per kilogram of beet was the lowest unit-emission rate reported for the P2 sugar-beet variety in a Polish study.[1]
  • 0.24–0.77 kilograms of CO2-equivalent per kilogram of sugar was the typical range reported for European beet-sugar production in a 2024 literature compilation.[1]
  • 620 kilograms of CO2-equivalent per tonne of sugar product was British Sugar’s product carbon footprint reported in January 2026.[47]
  • 4 kilograms of CO2 emissions per tonne of beet was estimated for conventional production using 150 litres of diesel and a 90-tonne-per-hectare yield assumption.[80]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

Regional production shifts are tracked with national volumes, including 49.4 million tonnes of sugar beet produced in Germany in 2024.

Globalization in the sugar beet industry

  • 5.389 million short tons of U.S. beet sugar were forecast for fiscal year 2024/25, a record if realized.[18]
  • 5.4 million tonnes of sugar beet were produced in Spain in 2024, according to Eurostat.[9]
  • About 70% of U.S. sugar beet production was represented by Midwest Agri-Commodities’ four member companies, based on its company profile.[86]
  • 49.4 million tonnes of sugar beet were produced in Germany in 2024, the largest national volume shown by Eurostat.[9]
  • 2.9 million tonnes of sugar beet were produced in Sweden in 2024, according to Eurostat.[9]

Cultural adaptation in the sugar beet industry

  • Nordzucker cultivated organic sugar beet in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Lithuania during the 2024/25 campaign.[60]
  • More than 1,500 sugar beet cultivars were registered in Europe’s Common Catalogue of Varieties of Agricultural Plant Species, indicating extensive regional product adaptation.[1]
  • Nordzucker processed organic sugar beet at plants in Schladen, Nyköbing and Kedainiai during the 2024/25 campaign.[60]
  • KWS began breeding sugar beet for tropical and subtropical Brazilian markets in 2012.[49]
  • Nordzucker growers’ average sugar content was 13.5% CCS in 2024, compared with 13.6% CCS in the previous year.[60]

Supplier management in the sugar beet industry

  • About 26,000 beet growers in Europe supplied sugar beet directly to Südzucker Group and its subsidiaries in fiscal 2025/26.[46]
  • American Crystal Sugar’s network included about 100 agronomists, crop advisers and seed researchers supporting growers through trials and technical guidance.[30]
  • Midwest Agri-Commodities’ growers harvested more than 25 million tons of sugar beets annually across almost 900,000 acres.[86]
  • Midwest Agri-Commodities’ four member companies represented more than 5,900 sugar beet growers.[86]
  • AGRANA’s 2025 contract-farmer count fell from approximately 5,700 in the previous crop year after factory closures.[70]

Stakeholder management in the sugar beet industry

  • The cooperative supported an estimated 5,290 jobs statewide in Minnesota in 2021.[77]
  • Alberta sugar beet processing generated approximately 326 jobs annually, including direct and secondary employment.[87]
  • The Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative supported 4,900 jobs in its 20-county region in 2021.[77]
  • Alberta sugar beet farming generated approximately 1,824 jobs annually, including direct and secondary employment.[87]
  • Minnesota sugar beet farmers employed 1,750 people during the 2021 production season, including farmers and hired labor.[77]

Distribution channels in the sugar beet industry

  • UK refined sugar production reached 1.086 million tonnes in 2024, according to Defra.[88]
  • AGRANA’s 2025 beet campaign averaged 128 days in length.[70]
  • AGRANA’s five beet sugar factories processed slightly more than 33,600 tonnes of beet per day on average during the 2025 campaign.[70]
  • Midwest Agri-Commodities marketed, distributed and financed more than 1.5 million tons of solid and liquid sugar beet products annually.[86]
  • The UK imported 483 thousand tonnes of refined sugar from non-EU countries in 2024.[88]

Key questions about the sugar beet industry

What is the sugar beet market size in 2024?
Global production reached about 294 million tonnes in 2024, with Russia, Germany, and France accounting for roughly 39% of output.
Is sugar beet production growing or shrinking into 2026?
EU beet area fell 12% in marketing year 2025/26, while U.S. beet sugar production for 2026/27 was projected at 4.722 million short tons raw value, about 300,000 short tons below the prior year.
Which companies lead the sugar beet industry?
KWS leads Gitnux's 2026 sugar beet ranking with an Overall score of 9.1, with €871.8 million Sugarbeet Segment net sales in fiscal 2024/25. Royal Cosun is the highest-ranked sugar cooperative at 8.8, with €515 million EBITDA before members’ bonus in 2024.
Which technology shifts are changing field operations?
Autonomous weed detection used a YOLOX-L model with an 8-minute processing cycle, and UAV seedling-recognition work reported up to 80% lower herbicide costs in a UK test.
How is the industry structured across countries and processors?
Production is concentrated in a few countries: Russia 46.7 million tonnes, Germany 36.7, and France 32.6 in 2024, representing about 39.5% of global production.
What regulatory constraint most affects sugar beet crop protection decisions in the EU?
Following the European Court of Justice ruling of 19 January 2023, EU member states cannot grant emergency authorisations for neonicotinoid use in sugar beet.
Reference

Cite This Report

This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.

APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Sugar Beet Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/sugar-beet-industry-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Sugar Beet Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 10 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/sugar-beet-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Sugar Beet Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/sugar-beet-industry-statistics.

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