PARIS — France’s Tereos, one of the world’s largest sugar makers, has expelled three cooperative members it accuses of damaging its reputation in a row over the group’s push to diversify.
The internal wrangling involves some senior representatives of the 12,000 French sugar beet growers who control Tereos. It comes as Europe’s sugar sector is under pressure from falling world prices after ramping up supply to benefit from last year’s abolition of European Union sugar quotas.
In a statement on Thursday, Tereos said its supervisory board took the unanimous decision to exclude former board members and farmers Gilles Bolle, Gerard Clay and Xavier Laude with immediate effect, following a disciplinary hearing last week.
“This decision is justified by the damage done to the reputation of the cooperative and its members by the circulation, in the media, of deliberately misleading or false information about Tereos’ situation,” the company said.
Contacted by Reuters, Bolle said the sanctioned farmers would mount a legal challenge.
“We are outraged by the decision,” he said by telephone. “We are being expelled for asking what the real financial situation of the group is.”
The row centers on Tereos’ overseas investments in recent years, both in sugar and other areas like starch making. — Reuters

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