YONKERS, N.Y. — American Sugar Refining, Inc. has acquired the majority of Belize Sugar Industries, Ltd., a global supplier of Fair Trade-certified sugar.

“The BSI acquisition presented an opportunity to expand our sugar business by acquiring a majority interest in a key supplier of raw and direct consumption sugars to our refineries,” said Luis Fernandez, co-president of American Sugar. “We plan to invest in the company and utilize our employees’ depth of sugar expertise to expand BSI’s operations and efficiencies in order to increase supplies of raw sugar and value-added Fair Trade and specialty sugars to our operations to meet consumer demand.”

While American Sugar now has the majority of the shares of BSI, the company’s previous shareholders, including BSI Employee Holdings Ltd, continue to hold the remaining share.

BSI owns Belize’s only sugar, which crushed more than a million tons of sugar cane and produced 114,000 tons of sugar in the most recent crop. The company has nearly 500 employees and farms 4,000 acres of cane, all of which qualifies for Fair Trade certification.