Domino Foods
Corporate brand
UnclaimedAn American sugar marketing and sales company whose portfolio includes Domino, C&H, Florida Crystals, and Redpath.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Domino Foods, Inc., commonly abbreviated as DFI and historically associated with the Domino Sugar name, is an American sugar marketing and sales company headquartered in Yonkers, New York. It sells sugar and related sweeteners produced by its manufacturing members and distributes them to retail and food markets in the United States. Its principal consumer-facing brand portfolio consists of Domino, C&H, Florida Crystals, and Redpath, and the company also sells agave nectar sweetener. The business traces its origins to 1807, when brothers William and Frederick Havemeyer established the W. & F.C. Havemeyer Company after gaining experience in New York's sugar-refining trade. The company developed through several organizational and name changes, including the Havemeyer, Townsend & Co. Refinery and later an association with the American Sugar Refining Company. Its industrial history is closely connected with the growth of large-scale sugar refining in New York City and Brooklyn. The early business also processed sugar cane grown under slavery, an aspect of its historical record that forms part of the broader history of American sugar refining. The Domino name became official around the start of the twentieth century. After acquiring additional refineries, the business adopted the Domino Sugar name in 1900, with the change formally recognized in 1901. Domino Sugar products were sold in East Coast markets from 1901 onward. The company expanded its consumer product range over time; one documented innovation was the introduction of individually wrapped sugar tablets in 1916. During the twentieth century, the business operated through several corporate owners and identities. The American Sugar Company became Amstar Corporation in 1970. Amstar was involved in a trademark dispute with Domino's Pizza in the 1970s, a case that produced different outcomes at trial and on appeal. Amstar was acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1983 and later sold to Merrill Lynch. Tate & Lyle acquired Domino Sugar in 1988. In 2001, the company formally adopted the name Domino Foods, Inc. and was sold by Tate & Lyle to American Sugar Refining and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida in a transaction reported at $180 million. The ownership structure was associated with Florida Crystals and the Fanjul family. Under Domino Foods, the business functioned as a marketing and sales organization for sugar produced by manufacturing members, while retaining major refinery assets and a broad retail brand portfolio. Domino Foods operates or owns three major United States refineries identified in reference material as being in Yonkers, Baltimore, Maryland, and Chalmette, Louisiana. Their combined stated production capacity is approximately 2.2 million metric tons of sugar per year. The company's brands serve household, food-service, baking, and ingredient uses, with products centered on granulated, powdered, brown, and other forms of sugar, alongside alternative sweeteners such as agave nectar. The company has also promoted environmental initiatives. In 2009, Domino Granulated Sugar and Florida Crystals products were certified as carbon neutral by the Carbonfund.org Foundation, with packaging carrying the foundation's CarbonFree partner logo. The initiative concerned production-related emissions, offsets, and process changes rather than the chemical composition of sucrose. The distinction became a subject of public discussion after critics pointed out that sucrose itself contains carbon. Domino Foods remains a privately held participant in the North American sugar industry. Its corporate history combines a long-established consumer brand, large-scale refining infrastructure, multiple ownership transitions, and continuing public scrutiny concerning agricultural subsidies and labor conditions connected with plantation operations associated with its ownership group.
History
Domino Foods' history begins in the New York sugar trade at the end of the eighteenth century. William Havemeyer, who had trained as an apprentice to a London sugar refiner, was hired in 1799 by Edmund Seaman to manage a refinery in New York City. His brother Frederick joined him in the business in 1802. In 1807, the brothers established their own operation, the W. & F.C. Havemeyer Company, on Vandam Street in Manhattan. The firm expanded during the nineteenth century and moved its refinery to the waterfront in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 1859. At that time it operated under the name Havemeyer, Townsend & Co. Refinery. The enterprise processed sugar made from cane cultivated under slavery, connecting its commercial growth to the exploitative labor systems that shaped the nineteenth-century sugar economy. The refinery underwent major modernization by 1864. After a devastating fire in 1882, the Brooklyn facility was rebuilt and became the largest sugar refinery in the United States. The company's development occurred alongside increasing concentration in the American sugar industry. Following the 1891 ruling that the Sugar Trust was illegal, Henry Osborne Havemeyer and Theodore A. Havemeyer became, respectively, chairman and president of the American Sugar Refining Company. American Sugar was among the original companies included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896. The business subsequently acquired five additional refineries and adopted the Domino Sugar name in 1900. The name was formally recognized by the United States Patent Office on October 8, 1901. Domino Sugar products had been sold in East Coast markets from 1901, establishing the brand as a household sugar name. Product development continued in the early twentieth century. In 1916, Domino introduced individually wrapped sugar tablets, an example of the company's effort to package refined sugar for convenient consumer use. Over subsequent decades, the business passed through several corporate forms. The American Sugar Company changed its name to Amstar Corporation in 1970. In 1975, Amstar sued Domino's Pizza over trademark infringement. Amstar won at trial but lost on appeal, leaving the pizza company able to continue using its name. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts acquired Amstar in 1983 and sold it to Merrill Lynch three years later. Tate & Lyle acquired Domino Sugar in 1988. In 2001, the organization formally changed its name to Domino Foods, Inc. Tate & Lyle then sold the business to American Sugar Refining and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida in a transaction that closed on November 6, 2001. The resulting ownership was connected with Florida Crystals and FLO-SUN, the privately held sugar enterprise associated with the Fanjul brothers. The Domino Foods organization operates as a marketing and sales company for products made by its manufacturing members. It distributes four principal brand families in the United States: Domino, C&H, Florida Crystals, and Redpath. Its product offering includes common household and baking sugars as well as agave nectar sweetener. Reference material identifies three major refineries in Yonkers, New York; Baltimore, Maryland; and Chalmette, Louisiana, with combined annual production capacity of approximately 2.2 million metric tons. In 2009, Domino Granulated Sugar and Florida Crystals products received CarbonFree certification from the Carbonfund.org Foundation. The program involved offsets and changes to production processes. Public discussion followed because the wording could be misunderstood as referring to the sugar molecule itself; the company clarified that the designation concerned the production process and was not a claim that sucrose contained no carbon. The physical legacy of the Brooklyn refinery became part of a separate redevelopment story. Two Trees bought the Williamsburg refinery site in 2012 for $185 million. Beginning in 2014, several structures, including the Syrup Shed, Wash House, Turbine Room, Power House, and Pump House, were demolished. The broader site was being redeveloped as a mixed-use district with offices, commercial space, residences, and parkland in the reference period. Domino Foods' present identity therefore combines an early American refining heritage, the Domino consumer brand, a multi-brand sugar distribution platform, and industrial assets connected with the Florida Crystals and FLO-SUN ownership network. Its history also includes unresolved reputational issues involving the legacy of slave-grown sugar, contemporary agricultural subsidies, political donations, and labor conditions associated with plantation operations linked to its ownership group.
- 2014
Demolition begins at former Brooklyn refinery complex
[1]Several buildings at the Williamsburg site were demolished as part of a mixed-use redevelopment project.
- 2012
Williamsburg refinery site sold
[1]Two Trees acquired the former Domino Sugar Refinery site in Brooklyn for $185 million.
- 2009
CarbonFree certification announced
[1]Domino Granulated Sugar and Florida Crystals products received CarbonFree certification tied to production emissions and offsets.
- 2001
Domino Foods name and ownership transition
[1]The company adopted the Domino Foods, Inc. name and was sold by Tate & Lyle to American Sugar Refining and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida.
- 1988
Tate & Lyle acquires Domino Sugar
[1]British sugar company Tate & Lyle acquired the Domino Sugar business.
- 1983
KKR acquires Amstar
[1]Kohlberg Kravis Roberts acquired Amstar as part of the company's succession of corporate owners.
- 1975
Amstar files trademark case against Domino's Pizza
[1]Amstar sued Domino's Pizza for trademark infringement, winning at trial but losing on appeal.
- 1970
American Sugar Company becomes Amstar
[1]The corporate business was renamed The Amstar Corporation.
- 1916
Individually wrapped sugar tablets introduced
[1]Domino introduced individually wrapped sugar tablets as a packaged consumer product.
- 1901
Domino name receives formal recognition
[1]The Domino Sugar name was formally recognized by the patent office on October 8, 1901.
Products and positioning
A long-established American sugar supplier and consumer brand portfolio serving household, baking, food-service, and ingredient markets.
Consumer sugar · 1901
Domino Sugar
The company's best-known consumer sugar brand, sold particularly in United States East Coast markets since 1901. The portfolio includes household and baking sugars such as granulated, brown, and powdered varieties. Domino Sugar represents the principal retail identity inherited from the historic refining business and remains the brand most directly associated with Domino Foods.
Consumer sugar
C&H Sugar
A sugar brand distributed by Domino Foods in the United States. It forms part of the company's multi-brand retail portfolio and is used across household cooking, baking, and sweetening occasions. Specific product-line details and launch dates are not established in the supplied reference material.
Consumer sugar
Florida Crystals
A sugar brand distributed through Domino Foods and associated with the Florida sugar-growing and refining enterprise. It is represented in household and baking markets and was included with Domino Granulated Sugar in the company's 2009 CarbonFree certification initiative.
Consumer sugar
Redpath
One of the four principal brand names under which Domino Foods distributes sugar. The supplied material identifies Redpath as part of the company's brand portfolio but does not provide a detailed account of its product range or launch history.
Portioned sweetener · 1916
Individually wrapped sugar tablets
A portion-controlled sugar product introduced by Domino in 1916. Individually wrapped tablets represented an early packaging innovation intended to make refined sugar easier to serve and use in consumer and hospitality settings.
Alternative sweetener
Agave nectar sweetener
A non-sugar sweetener sold by Domino Foods alongside its conventional sugar products. The supplied reference material confirms the product category but does not specify its formulation, launch date, or complete retail range.
Controversies
Scrutiny over subsidies, political donations, and plantation labor
The Fanjul-associated ownership group connected with Domino Foods has been criticized over substantial corporate subsidies, political contributions involving both major United States parties, and working conditions on plantations. Critics have described some plantation labor conditions as modern slavery. The supplied reference does not provide a specific adjudication, case date, or independent finding resolving these allegations.
Marketing campaigns
- 2009CarbonFree certification initiative
United States
Domino Foods promoted CarbonFree certification for Domino Granulated Sugar and Florida Crystals products through the Carbonfund.org Foundation. The initiative was based on production-process changes and carbon offsets, with the partner logo placed on packaging.
Outcome. The campaign generated public discussion about the distinction between a carbon-neutral production process and the carbon content of sucrose itself. The company clarified that CarbonFree referred to production rather than the chemical composition of the product.
Brand decisions
2012
Disposition of the Williamsburg refinery siteStrategyBackground
The former Brooklyn refinery site was no longer being treated solely as an operating industrial property.
Action taken
Two Trees purchased the Domino Sugar Refinery site for redevelopment.
Aftermath
The site entered a mixed-use redevelopment process involving offices, commercial uses, residences, and parkland; several refinery buildings were demolished from 2014 onward.
Site purchase price. $185 million (2012)
2009
Production carbon-neutrality positioningStrategyBackground
The company sought to communicate environmental improvements in the manufacture of selected sugar products.
Action taken
Domino and Florida Crystals obtained CarbonFree certification involving offsets and production-process changes.
Aftermath
The wording prompted criticism and clarification that the claim concerned manufacturing emissions rather than the absence of carbon in sucrose.
2001
Reorganization as Domino FoodsStrategyBackground
The business was transitioning from the historic Domino Sugar corporate identity toward a broader marketing and sales role covering multiple sugar brands.
Action taken
The company formally changed its name to Domino Foods, Inc.
Aftermath
Domino Foods continued distributing Domino while adding or maintaining C&H, Florida Crystals, and Redpath within a multi-brand portfolio.
2001
Sale by Tate & LyleM&ABackground
Tate & Lyle had owned Domino Sugar since 1988 and sold the business as part of a change in ownership.
Action taken
Tate & Lyle sold Domino Foods to American Sugar Refining and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida; the transaction closed on November 6, 2001.
Aftermath
Ownership became associated with Florida Crystals, FLO-SUN, and the Fanjul brothers, while Domino Foods continued as a United States sugar marketing and sales platform.
Transaction value. $180 million (2001 transaction)
1900
Adoption of the Domino Sugar identityStrategyBackground
The refining business had expanded through the acquisition of five additional refineries and needed a unified commercial identity.
Action taken
The company changed its official name to Domino Sugar, with the name formally recognized in 1901.
Aftermath
Domino became the enduring consumer-facing identity of the sugar business and remained associated with East Coast retail markets.
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