First Published in 1990

This is a revised and updated second version for English translation from French by Erica E. Long-Michalke. Sugar provides a fascinating example of an international commodity, and this book deals with the history both of a multinational company and of the world sugar economy.

It describes the emergence, in the nineteenth century, of the two family companies of Henry Tate and Abram Lyle. By 1914 they were the largest and most prosperous sugar-refining businesses in the British Empire. In 1921 they amalgamated and became after the Second World War pre-eminent in the world sugar economy.

The book's final chapter covers the company's most recent acquisitions and demonstrates the management strategy of Tate & Lyle in its relations with the developed and developing worlds.