South Texas’ shuttered sugar mill now part of $1 billion plan to revive U.S. cane industry

Three companies have partnered to buy the former Rio Grande Valley Sugar Growers Inc. mill in Santa Rosa in an effort to revive the sugar industry in South Texas and beyond.

In May, Dallas-based Bizos Cavallo Enterprises, Vera International of Birmingham, Alabama, and Verax Commodities of Charlotte, North Carolina, formed Santa Rosa Sugar LLC to acquire the facility. 

Together, the firms — a consulting company, a private equity group, and a sugar trader — are positioning themselves to revive sugar investments in the United States following the closure of Texas’ last sugar mill and a decline in farming operations in Texas and Montana.

According to a written statement, the company estimates it will invest about $1 billion over the next five years to expand refining and sugar cane farming capacity nationwide.