211 Michigan Sugar Since their founding, more than a century ago, when six independent sugar beet companies merged, Michigan Sugar Company has perfected the process of turning one of the region’s largest cash crops—the sugar beet—into pure, all-natural sugar. Today, Michigan Sugar Company is the third largest beet sugar processor in the United States, producing an annual average of more than 1 billion pounds of sugar. They sell our products in wholesale and retail quantities under the Pioneer® Sugar and Big Chief® Sugar brands. Established in 1901, the Bay City factory was named the German-American Sugar Company which later became the Monitor Sugar Company. In 1906, six companies merged to form the Michigan Sugar Company. Michigan Sugar added two more factories in 1924. By 1954, only two of the original companies remained (Michigan Sugar Company with the Caro, Carrollton, Croswell and Sebewaing factories). The other was the Monitor Sugar Company with a single factory in Bay City. In 2002, growers acquired Michigan Sugar Company and formed the state’s first cooperative. In 2004, Monitor’s growers and the Michigan Sugar Company joined forces. Today, the company’s mantra is “Locally Grown. Locally Owned.”