INGENIO DE AZÚCAR SANTA ROSA (SUGAR REFINERY)
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Sugar cane has long been the main source of income for the people of Aguadulce (along with salt), and remains the main industrial activity in this region of vast plains. The Santa Rosa refinery was founded in 1911 by Moisés Delvalle. It is the country's largest sugar company, milling over 7,000 tonnes of cane a day, and producing around 15,000 quintals of sugar, in the form of refined white sugar (for local consumption), unrefined brown sugar (for export), and molasses (a thick syrup made from the residue of refining, used to produce rum or feed livestock). The plant employs 4,000 people during the cane harvest(la zafra), plus 500 small-scale growers who bring their crops to the refinery. Harvesting takes place from January to April, during the dry season, just before flowering, when the sugar content is highest in the lower part of the stalks. Sugar cane fields are traditionally burnt before harvesting to scare off snakes and facilitate access for the cutters. A visit to the refinery shows the entire process, from harvesting to bagging the refined sugar. The tour is usually led by one of the company's longest-serving employees, who will take you to a replica of the first house built in Santa Rosa in 1909, with a historical museum and the original mills(trapiches).
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