Examining the last century or so of the industrial life cycle of Guyana’s sugar industry, it is observed that the period up to the late 1960s and early 1970s marked the phase of its maturity. More or less, thereafter, the period of its decline commenced, leading to what I have termed as its point of no return today. In stark contrast, over the last century or so, the global sugar industry has enjoyed a period of vigorous growth. Presently it has morphed into a global sweetener industry, whose principal components are 1) sugar (cane and beet); 2) other caloric sweeteners (principally high fructose corn syrup, HFCS or, isoglucose as it is known in Europe); and 3) non-caloric sweeteners (for example aspartame, splenda and truvia).
Thus the data for the period show that, while in 1920, the global output of sugar was about 12 million tonnes, by 1940 that output had more than doubled to 27 million tonnes. Between 1940 and 1960 output had once again more than doubled to 55 million tonnes. Furthermore, between 1960 and 2010 global sugar output had trebled to reach about 165 million tonnes. And, in the period since the recent global crisis (2008-09 to 2013-14) it has increased by as much as 30 million tonnes (or about one-fifth) to reach a current output of 175 million tonnes.
This contrasting experience over the past century highlights both the pressing urgency for