FLORIDA SUGAR & MOLASSES EXCHANGE, INC.
RIVIERA BEACH, FLORIDA

Florida cane molasses is a valuable by-product of the manufacturing of raw sugar from sugarcane. Known as blackstrap, as it comes from the final centrifugals of the sugar mills before dilution. Cane molasses, industry-wide, is a multi-million dollar by-product and has become increasingly significant to the local economy. With the growth of Florida’s sugar industry, local markets could no longer absorb the quantities of molasses that were produced. As a result the Florida Sugar & Molasses Exchange, Inc., a non-profit trade association representing a majority of the state’s producers, was formed in 1969 to provide efficient distribution of molasses. Most of Florida’s molasses is consumed as a livestock feed, which it is especially well suited. Florida molasses commonly has protein levels twice that of usual grade molasses due to the highly organic muck soil on which the cane is grown. About two percent of the molasses is sold to distillers in Florida for the production by fermentation of beverage alcohol, primarily rum and cane neutral spirits. It also finds its way into yeast production. Florida cane molasses is a valuable by-product of the manufacturing of raw sugar from sugarcane. Once the sugar mills have extracted the maximum sugar possible from the cane juice, the crystallization and separation processes are completed and a thick molasses remains. This molasses is commonly known as blackstrap, cane molasses. Blackstrap, cane molasses has become a multi-million dollar product that significantly impacts the local economy.