Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co.

The Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co. was a holding company incorporated in Delaware on March 1, 1935.  It was owned by several New York Banks in settlement for their claims of some $4.125 million against Cuba Cane Products, Co., the successor to Cuba Cane Sugar Co. In 1939 Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co. owned eight sugar mills previously owned by the Cuba Cane Sugar Corp., the first six under its subsidiary Compañia Azucarera Atlantica del Golfo.

  1. Central Álava - Established in 1836 as Trapiche Regalado by Spaniard Ignacio de Mendiola, was acquired by Julián de Zulueta Amondo in 1845 who converted it into a central sugar mill. Was acquired by Cuba Cane Sugar Co. in 1915 from the Zulueta family.

  2. Central Conchita - Established in 1823 by Bartolomé Casañas, by 1880 under the ownership of Domingo Aldama was one of the largest sugar mills in Cuba, in the early 1900s it belonged to Juan Pedro Baró who sold it for 3,500,000 pesos to José (Pote) López Rodriguez in the 1910s who sold it to Cuba Cane Sugar Co, in 1915 for 6,000,000 pesos.

  3. Central Mercedes - Established in 1855 by Antonio Carrillo Albornoz, was acquired in 1901 by Cia. Cubana Central Mercedes whose principal shareholders were Miguel Arango, Regino Truffin and Ignacio Almagro.  Was acquired by Cuba Cane Sugar Co. in 1915.

  4. Central Lugareño - Was established in 1891 by Dr. Merchol Bernal Barona and Bernabé Sanchez Adán, between 1908 and 1917 was owned by Sociedad Anónima Central Lugareño owned by Galbán & Cia., was acquired by Cuba Cane Sugar Co. in 1916. 

  5. Central Morón - 

  6. Central Stewart - Established with Cuban capital in 1906 with financing from the Duncan Stewart Co. of Scotland, manufacturer of its machinery, it was a financial failure so it was shortly thereafter acquired by The Stewart Sugar Co. who sold it in 1915 to Cuba Cane Sugar Co.  

  7. Central Perseverancia - Established in 1892 by Spaniard Miguel Diaz Perez, was acquired in 1915 by Cuba Cane Sugar Co.

  8. Central Soledad - Its origin dates back to the late 18th Century when in had a blood driven mill, it was acquired in 1814 by Buenaventura Tojonera who in 1840 sold it to Joaquín Aizpúrua who upgraded it to a central sugar mill, was later owned by the Sécada family until the late 1890s and then by various owners until 1919 when it was acquired by Alfredo Fernandez who sold it to Cuba Cane Sugar Co. in 1920.

Milton S. Hershey (1857-1945) made his incursion in the Cuban sugar industry in 1916 when he decided to expand the vertical integration of his Hershey Chocolate empire and acquired farm land in the Yumuri Valley, some thirty miles east of Havana to establish a sugar mill. The YouTube video below is a good documentary on the history of Hershey’s investment in Cuba and his contribution to the Cuban sugar industry. Construction of Central Hershey was completed in time for the 1919 grinding season.  Between 1916 and 1921, Hershey built the two hundred fifty one mile Hershey Cuban Railway, the only electric powered railway in Cuba.  In its first year of operation, Central Hershey produced thirty two million pounds of refined sugar which were in its entirety sold to the Hershey Chocolate Co. in PA.  Hershey expanded his Cuban operation in 1920 by acquiring Central Rosario and further in 1925 by acquiring Central San Antonio.  Soon production exceeded the Pennsylvania chocolate company capacity and excess sugar was sold to others including the Coca Cola Co. in Atlanta.

Cuba's political instability in the 1930s and early '40s motivated Hershey to consider selling his sugar mills in Cuba.  A year after his death in 1945, in the 1946 Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co., one of the items to be considered was the acquisition of certain assets from the Hershey Trust Company identified as The Hershey Cuban Enterprises.  The Hershey Cuban Enterprises included some sixty thousand acres of land, four electric generating plants and transmission lines and consisted of:

  • The Hershey Corporation - A Delaware corporation which owned and operated Central Hershey, a large sugar mill and refinery.  It also owned a peanut oil plant and a henequen (sisal) plant, both adjacent to the sugar mill. The Hershey Corporation operated two subsidiaries: Central Carmen S.A. (a land holding company) and Compañia Agraria Cubana (inactive at the time)

  • The Hershey Sugar Sales Corporation - A Delaware corporation engaged in purchasing refined sugar in Cuba by the Hershey Corporation and marketing it in the United States

  • Rosario Sugar Company - A New York corporation which owned and operated Central Rosario acquired in 1892 by Ramón Pelayo de la Torriente (1850-1932).  Central Rosario was acquired by the Hershey Corp. in June 1920 from Ramón Pelayo for 8 million Cuban pesos

  • Compañia Azucarera Gomez Mena - A Cuban corporation which owned and operated Central San Antonio

  • Hershey Cuban Railway Company - A Cuban corporation that owned and operated an electric railroad line of about one hundred twenty miles

  • Hershey Terminal Railroad - A Cuban corporation serving the east side of Havana Harbor, it had 6 miles of track and a dock for lighter and small vessels

The 1950 Annual Report of the Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co. dated September 30, 1950, announced to the stockholders that immediately after the close of the 1950 crop season, the company sold two of its smallest sugar mills, Central Perseverancia and Central Soledad.  Proceeds of the sale were used in part to buy 28% of the outstanding stock of Central Violeta Sugar Co. SA, owner of Central Violeta and about sixty thousand acres of land in Camagüey Province.  Central Violeta Sugar Co. SA lands adjoined lands of Central Morón, Compañia Azucarera Atlantica del Golfo's largest sugar mill.  The Annual Report also shows that the Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co. operated two subsidiaries, Compañia Azucarera Atlantica del Golfo and the Hershey Cuban Enterprises. 

In February 1956 Julio Lobo attempted an unsuccessful hostile takeover of Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co.  Almost two years later, on December 31, 1957 Lobo successfully closed on the deal to acquire the three Hershey mills from the Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co. under a Panamanian company named Chiriqui Sugar Mills Corp.  The Cuban Atlantic Sugar Co. was liquidated in late 1958 after completion of the sale to the Chiriqui Sugar Mills Corp.