Suffice to say, production manager Rudy Doerwald keeps close tabs on the price of the sweetener, but with just two suppliers to choose from, he has no choice but to take what’s offered.

“The price they dictate is unfortunately the price I have to pay,” he said. “I am just held hostage and there’s not much I can do.”

Mr. Doerwald’s gripe is simple, but finding a solution for Canadian sugar users like Greaves has proven next to impossible due to the peculiar way the world’s two most powerful economies protect their sugar industries.

For 15 years, Rogers Sugar and Redpath Sugar had the Canadian refined sugar business to themselves, protected by trade barriers that kept out subsidized sugar from the United States and Europe. For bakers, drink makers and confectioners such as Greaves, that has meant having to pay about 10 per cent to 15 per cent more than the world price.