TATE NOT STATE! Sugar may be nationalised: Mr. Cube says “state control will make a hole in your pocket and my pocket”

SUGAR

Liverpool's prosperity was built on the major imports of sugar, tobacco and cotton from plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas. At first only wealthy people could afford to buy sugar. Throughout the 18th century, as more people acquired the taste, demand grew, imports increased, and sugar became more affordable. Coffee, tea and desserts began to be sweetened with sugar. Britain's craving for sugar, that continues today, was born.

To meet Britain's growing demand, more cane sugar was needed. From the 1670s the first sugar refineries in Liverpool started to process raw sugar. Sugar cane was grown on plantations, using enslaved Africans for labour. Liverpool merchants dominated the 'triangular trade' that took manufactured goods to Africa, enslaved Africans to the Americas, and sugar cane and other raw materials to Britain.

Sugar has had a massive impact on the diet of British people. In spite of health warnings, our appetite for the 'sweet stuff' remains.

THE SUGAR TRADE

Imports of sugar grew from 750 tonnes per year in 1704, to 45,000 tonnes in 1810. Raw sugar cane needed to be 'refined' before being suitable for domestic consumption. By 1768 there were eight sugar refineries in Liverpool.

After 1807, the sugar trade continued unaffected by the abolition of the slave trade in British territories. Liverpool merchants had good contacts in the Americas, and in any case slavery itself had not yet been abolished. Sugar production continued to grow. Throughout the 19th century, Irish and then German and Polish migrants laboured in Liverpool's hot sugar refineries.

As imports continued to pour into the docks, small refineries like George Jager & Co and Fairrie & Co were taken over by larger companies such as Henry Tate. Tate amalgamated with Lyle's to form Tate & Lyle in 1921. Liverpool's sugar refining industry ended when Tate & Lyle closed in 1981. Liverpool still has sugar importers such as Billington's, which started in the trade in the 1860s.

Tate & Lyle Public Limited Company is a British-headquartered, global supplier of diverse food and beverage products to food and industrial markets. It was originally a sugar refining business, but from the 1970s, it began to diversify, eventually divesting its sugar business in 2010. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_&_Lyle

via en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Liverpool

Taken in: UK / England / Liverpool (show map)

Taken on: October 19, 2025

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