experiment blog

A dynasty was born in Cuba one hundred and sixty years ago, when Alfonso “Alfy” Fanjul’s ancestors began farming sugar cane and producing sugar in the country. A team of skilled agricultural experts who understood sensible business management and a demanding consumer market all helped the Fanjul family’s Cuban sugar enterprise prosper and expand. As decades went on, the expertise grew, and it soon became clear that the Fanjul family would be long-lasting members of the sugar world, one in which they have a passion that is unrivaled.

But, things changed in Cuba after Fidel Castro’s Communist takeover of the country. Castro’s new government seized all private property, including the Fanjul family’s sugar assets and businesses. In 1959, Alfonso Fanjul, Sr. and his family fled Cuba and moved north to the United States, where they hoped to re-establish the family’s sugar business in the rich and fertile soils of south Florida. Alfonso Fanjul and his son Alfy Fanjul founded what would become Florida Crystals Corporation in 1960, starting with a modest 4,000 acres of land. They also bought three small sugar mills in Louisiana and shipped the pieces by barge to Pahokee, Florida.

There, they reassembled the parts to create the Osceola Farms Co. sugar mill, which just finished its 50th grinding season. Five decades later, sitting at his desk as chief executive officer and Chairman of the Board of Florida Crystals Corporation, Alfy Fanjul is able to enjoy the success of his and his family’s hard work. Florida Crystals has grown tremendously since the Osceola sugar mill ground its first year’s sugar cane. Today, with its subsidiary, American Sugar Refining, the world’s largest sugar refining company, Florida Crystals has grown to have a worldwide production capacity of seven million tons of sugar per year.