As soon as we arrive, a little woman asks us smiling: « Are you afraid of heights? Are you asthmatic? Sandals are forbidden and helmet must be worn.» Indeed we are not in a museum but in a factory which is working for good.

From July to December, the sugar cane harvest is at its peak and the Gol factory is working at full capacity. Each visitor puts on a paper headwear and a fluorescent green-coloured helmet. Our guide Hélène, equipped with a megaphone starts the tour with the hustle and bustle of the trucks loaded with cane. For five months, these heavy vehicles known as « cachalots », bring more than 9000 tons of sugar cane to this factory every day.

Photo session for the visitors in front of the imposing machines which are lifting kilos of sugar cane. We are then taken to the crusher where the cane is crushed and its fibres are removed thanks to heavy mills.
Constantly focused, Hélène waits for our small group. Iron staircases lead us through the factory in a smoking, noisy and hot universe.
Our guide has known the Gol factory for 8 years. Decantation, evaporation, cristallization, drying. She knows all about the steps of the cane processing and every nook of the huge industrial structure by heart.

While the helmeted group walks along the footbridge, the workmen are busy: “During the five months of sugar cane harvest, the factory employs 380 persons. Four teams of 15 workmen take turns night and day for the machines.”

Outside the sugar cane harvest, the factory doesn’t work. 190 employees are in charge of the maintenance of the equipment.
Then comes the time everyone has been looking forward: tasting the “sirop à la cuite”* and the different types of sugar (see box below).
The visit comes to an end and our group goes towards the tasting room for a query session. We finish our visit at the shop where we taste rums manufactured and offered by the Groupe Quartier Français.

Guided tours: 4 guided tours a day by appointment only, from Tuesday to Saturday at 8:30 am, 10:30 am, 01 :00 pm and 03 :00 pm during the sugar cane harvest (from July to December). Minimum age: 7 years old. Comfortable clothes recommended and closed shoes compulsory. Tariff : 3 and 5 €
Access : Route nationale to Saint-Pierre, exit "Saint-Louis centre". You will find indications at the first roundabout. Don’t worry, the factory is so huge that you can’t miss it!

 Text and pictures : Laurène Mazier

* thick and dark brown residue obtained after the extraction of sugar cane juice