American Sugar Refining Company

The American Sugar Refining Company (ASR) established in 1891 was a major US corporation. Its predecssor - the Sugar Trust - was a a combination of virtually all US refiners outside the West Coast into a single entity. Such combinations had only just been pioneered in the oil industry. When such trusts became illegal ASR was formed as a New Jersey holding company - a novelty at the time. The driving force behind ASR was Henry Osborne Havemeyer who served as president. The company was one of 12 original Dow Jones Industrial Average components in 1896. The company expanded beyond cane sugar refining also into the growing of cane especially in the Carribean but also into beet sugar and outside the sugar industry. By 1910 it controlled for example 14 factories in Cuba with the Cuban American Sugar Company serving as a holding company.

It proved impossible to maintain the virtual monopoly over sugar refining the company had enjoyed and compeititors emerged. From the 1920s the importance of sugar as a commoditiy declined and the company's relative fortunes declined with it. It did however survive the Great Depression quite well and remained profitable through the 30s - but from peak to trough its stock fell by nearly 90%. With the the Cuban revolution its properties there were nationalized. In 1963 it changed its name to American Sugar Company and in 1970  to Amstar reflecting the increased emphasis away from sugar. It was finally acquired by Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts in 1983 ending its existence as a public company. Parts of it were acquired by British firm Tate & Lyle and then later sold to US companies including a “new” American Sugar Refining Company.

ASR owned some of the best known brands in the industry in the US - such as Domino, Franklin or Spreckels Sugar. 

Typical share certificate of the time. The harvesting scene (ox carts, rider, workers and the central factory in the background) was in use on certificates of the company for decades.