The Varsano family is the founding family of soft commodities company Sucres et Denrées (Sucden). Company founder Maurice Varsano began as a sugar trader in Morocco. Following the Second World War, Maurice emigrated to Paris with his partner, Jacques Roboh, where they created the sugar trading company, Sucden, in 1952.
The company still acts as a mediator for sugar-producing countries and uses a system initiated by Maurice in the 1950s when he conducted a trade deal with Fidel Castro to sell Cuban sugar to Japan and North Africa. Maurice’s relationship with Castro proved valuable, as he was one of the only traders who would consider working with Cuba following the political revolution.
Maurice later created the subsidiary Amerop Sugar Corporation, opening up trade opportunities for Sucden in Latin and North America. These industry investments led to Maurice’s reputation as being one of the most important entrepreneurial figures of international trade by the early 1970s.
Maurice’s son, Serge Varsano, took over after his father’s death in 1980. Under his leadership, the company expanded into the cocoa industry and formed a relationship with the Ivory Coast to purchase 400,000 tonnes of cocoa.
Sucden continued to expand its product offering, investing in contracts with the Iranian and Libyan oil markets.
