The major dispute between Danish Sugar Beet Growers and Nordic Sugar will not be resolved anytime soon. According to the chairman of Danish Sugar Beet Growers, Troels Frandsen, the arbitration court's decision will not come until 2026.
The case concerns whether Nordic Sugar's new testing equipment for measuring sugar content and purity at the factories in Nakskov and Nykøbing Falster has led to lower payments to the growers. The sugar beet growers believe that the measurements have systematically shown too low values, and that their members have collectively missed out on 127 million kroner.
The dispute began in 2024 when the new Rüpro equipment was put into use. Several farmers immediately experienced that both purity and sugar content were assessed lower than usual, even though the growing conditions were favourable. Two rounds of so-called parallel tests - conducted in collaboration with Nordic Sugar - confirmed, according to the growers, that the equipment consistently measured lower than previous methods.
Who will win?
Danish Sugar Beet Growers attempted throughout the autumn and winter to reach a negotiated solution, but without result. In May 2025, the association formally filed the arbitration case.
Senior advisor Henning Otte Hansen from the University of Copenhagen has previously assessed that the beet growers are strong in the conflict because they traditionally have a strong ability to stand together, while Nordic Sugar, on its part, is dependent on the deliveries.
For Nordic Sugar, this means that the uncertainty continues, and for the beet growers, that any compensation is still a long way off. The producer has not yet publicly commented on the conflict.
