Domino employee's son responds to sugar column
Jeff Tarleton of Reisterstown, whose father retired from Domino Sugar in 1982, says this about today's column. More below the jump.
Dear Mr. Hancock:While I enjoy your articles, I thought today’s column was too casually aggressive towards Domino Sugar, their local refinery especially, and their place in the sugar subsidy issue. I’m fairly sure that most people would have a difficult time differentiating between the refiner, Domino, and the raw can supplier, Fanjul. I think you probably unintentionally may fuel some local and unfair negativity towards Domino.
Domino Sugar, the refining company, has been at the short end of the subsidies for years. They have paid for over priced raw sugar for an extended period of time. As such, Tate & Lyle, their former owner, gave up on the US market and sold Domino in a fire sale just a few years ago. Closing was a real possibility. As you mentioned soda, the reality is that Domino lost their best customer (Coca-Cola) because of pricing. Do you think that was something that they considered positive in their business plan?
The Fanjul family is, as you say, profiting greatly from their role of growers. They smartly bought Domino realizing they needed a vertical expansion of their business, and more importantly realized that they needed a market for their subsidized products to be sold to.
But to suggest they are popping the corks over on Key Highway is highly misrepresentative. It was not all that long ago that Domino had refineries in Boston, Brooklyn, Phila, Balt, New Orleans, owned Spreckles on the west coast and was by far a dominant company. Decades of exhorbinant raw prices have taken their toll on this once fine company.They have hung on by a thread in terms of providing good local jobs. I will not be surprised the day they sell that piece of land for development because the land is worth more than refining sugar (same thing they have done in Boston for example). While it is possible that the Fanjul's will share their prosperity with the refiner, I would doubt that they would do any more than they have to protect their market; in other words, I would not expect any expansion, building, job enrichment, etc.
While this letter may appear to be a PR spokesperson’s piece, I am not an employee of Domino. My father retired from them in 1982 and I have been a follower of the industry since, so I am somewhat more informed than other people are.
Thank you for reading this and perhaps you might do a follow-up that is a little fairer to the local entity.
