Foundation was founded at the initiative of
Carl Frederik Tietgen on 20 April 1872. The newly established company acquired two existing sugar refineries in Copenhagen from
Det kjøbenhavnske Skibsrederi, a subsidiary of
H. Puggaard & Co. One of them was the Phønix Sugar Refinery () on
Slotsholmen (
Slotsholmsgade/
Christians Brygge) and the other was the Helsingørsgade Sugar Refinery, located in the former Helsingørsgade street, between
Adelgade and
Borgergade. The first board consisted of Tietgen (chairman), Gustav Brock, E. J. Hvidt,
Hans Peter Ingerslev, Tage Reedtz-Thott, Sehestedt-Juul. The company H. Puggaard & Co., the parent company of led by
Rudolph Puggaard, was charged with handling the daily operations while Tietgen convinced the engineer
Gustav Adolph Hagemann to join the company as
chief technical officer. Puggaard was succeeded by
Carl Gammeltoft as managing director of the company in 1881.
Raw sugar from the West Indies The company was initially dependent on raw sugar from the
Danish West Indies. Hagemann was sent to
Saint Croix to reorganize the sugar cane industry. started operations in 1878 and the last technical challenges were solved when Hagemann visited St. Croix for the third time in 1879. 700 mm narrow gauge railway at
Bethlehem Old Work, U.S. Virgin Islands, Estate Bethlehem’s Sugar Industry,
St. Croix,
US Virgin Islands. .
A new focus on sugar beet Since its foundation, invested heavily in developing a local sugar industry based on
sugar beets from
Funen,
Lolland-
Falster and
Møn. The construction of a large new sugar factory in
Odense began in 1872. The competing
Højbygaard Sugar Factory at
Holeby on Lolland was acquired in 1880. A sugar factory in
Nakskov was constructed in 1882 and followed by two new sugar factories in
Stege and Assens in 1884. Lyngby Sugar Factory was acquired in 1903; Maribo Sugar Factory, founded just one year earlier, was acquired in 1908, and the Store Larsbjørnsstræde Sugar Refinery in Copenhagen was acquired in 1910. The sugar refinery in Helsingørsgade was destroyed by fire in 1912. A new large sugar factory was then built on
Applebys Plads. It also replaced the sugar refinery in Store Larsbjørnsstræde which closed in 1914. A new sugar factory in
Saxkøbing opened in 1910 and (renamed Gørlev Sugar Factory) was acquired in 1934. •
Assens Sugar Factory (1884–2006) •
Gørlev Sugar Factory (1912–2000) •
Højbygaard Sugar Factory (1873–1960) •
Maribo Sugar Factory (1897–1962) •
Nakskov Sugar Factory (1882– ) •
Nykøbing sugar factory (1884– ) •
Odense Sugar Factory (1873–1970) •
Sakskøbing Sugar Factory (1910–1991) •
Stege Sugar Factory (1884–1989) • The Sugar Factory (Tranekær) (1804-1810)
Merger merged with
Danisco (founded in 1934 by the , which was founded in 1923) and
De Danske Spritfabrikker (founded in 1881). == References ==