Cuba will place 5,000 to 7,000 tons of organic sugar on the international market this year. The product comes from sugarcane grown in soils treated with natural nutrients and without chemical pesticides. The Carlos Baliño sugarmill, in the northern city of Santa Clara, 300 km from Havana, is the only one in the country that processes this type of sugar, which fetches higher prices than the non-organic product.

Improved farming techniques will allow organic sugar production to reach 13,000 tons annually in the next few years, say officials. Last year, 4,200 tons of this environmentally-friendly sweetener were sold to Denmark, Netherlands and Canada for more than 400 dollars a ton.