First Round of Online Voting is Sept. 3-12 at micoolestthing.org
BAY CITY, MICHIGAN – Pioneer Sugar, the pure, all-natural sugar produced by Michigan Sugar Company, has been nominated for Michigan Manufacturing Association’s (MMA) 2025 Coolest Thing Made in Michigan People’s Choice Award.
The first round of online voting for the award opens Wednesday, Sept. 3, and continues through Friday, Sept. 12. You can vote daily at micoolestthing.org. First-round votes will determine which products make it to the Top 10 in Round 2 and voting in that round (Sept. 22 – Oct. 1) will determine the three finalists for the award. The winner of the 2025 Coolest Thing Made in Michigan People’s Choice Award will be announced during the MMA’s Manufacturing Excellence Awards gala on Nov. 20 in Lansing.
“We are honored to be nominated as one of the coolest products made in Michigan,” said Michigan Sugar President & CEO Neil Juhnke. “This recognition is testament to the hard work of our grower-owners and our 2,100 employees across the state of Michigan. We’re proud to carry the torch for the Michigan agriculture industry in this competition and hope to make a deep run in the voting process.”
Michigan Sugar Vice President of Sales & Marketing John Whaley said the Pioneer Sugar brand was established in 1906 and will celebrate its 120th birthday in 2026.
“We know we are the sweetest thing made in Michigan, but we also think Pioneer Sugar’s story is pretty cool,” said Whaley. “Our sugar starts in the farm fields of the roughly 865 farmers who own our cooperative. Each year, they grow more than 4.6 million tons of sugarbeets that we slice at our processing facilities to extract the sugar. That’s the same sugar that ends up in your homes and in the recipes you love.”
Founded in 1906, Michigan Sugar Company now produces about 1.3 billion pounds of sugar each year from sugarbeets grown in 17-20 Michigan counties. Pioneer Sugar can be found on grocery store shelves in 15 states in white granulated, Golden Light Brown, Dark Brown, and Confectioners Powdered varieties.
According to the MMA, the Coolest Thing Made in Michigan award honors the products that drive the state’s economy, strengthen communities, and showcase the creativity and impact of Michigan-made manufacturing.
“Anyone who has seen a sugarbeet harvest or watched the process from beet to bag understands just how ‘cool’ Pioneer Sugar is,” said Juhnke. “We hope our fellow Michiganders agree.”
Learn more about MMA and the Manufacturing Excellence Awards at mimfg.org/excellence. Learn more about Michigan Sugar Company at www.michigansugar.com, and more about Pioneer Sugar at www.pioneersugar.com.
