Sugar production division - Sugar factory Prosenice - History

In 1518 Jan z Pernštejna permitted to Ondřej Šilhan to buy a mill supplied with water from the pond or the pound race with two flour wheel and the third wheel on the end of the race Veliký prosenický. On the place of this mill, which was in operation over 360 years, was established in 1881 Rolnický cukrovar akciový.

Its establishing was of a great importance for this locality and especially for farmers from wide surroundings of Prosenice in 1881. Till this time the farmers delivered sugar beet, which began to be grown in the surroundings of Prosenice at the end of the sixties, into German capitalistic sugar factories in Přerov and Lipník. The both sugar factories with a sufficient sugar beet reserves in their estates did not show a great interest in sugar beet delivered by the farmers, they did not provide the farmers with any delivery advantages and they worried them especially during sugar beet delivery in various ways. That is why the farmers from Lipník agreed in 1880 to buy Šebek´s damp mill in Malé Prosenice together and to establish a sugar factory here. They established a provisional committee for stock subscription, elaborating articles of association and controlling preparatory works for the factory building and in 1880 they established a joint-stock company, which built a sugar factory next year.

The first campaign, which started because of a delay in building in Oktober 3, 1881 and owing to frost and complicated sugar beet processing it lasted till February 5, 1882. However, it closed with a great financial lost and therefore the sugar factory had to face financial problems for many years. The starting failures did not disturb the trust of shareholders in prosperity of the new factory. As the other campaigns were successful, some improvements of technical equipment of the factory as well as an enlargement of its capacity were carried out. Therefore a better sugar yield as well as a reduction of production costs were achieved. A successful development of sugar factory resulted in enlargement of sugar beet sowing. The sugar factory bought also one yard in Sobíšky in 1906, but it sold it and bought two yards in Tučín and Želatovice during allotting of the former estate in Přerov in 1917. At the beginning, the factory had great problems because of a strong competition of the both neighbouring sugar factories, however, owing to a persistence and devotion of the committee members and thanks to a good leading it overcame all troubles. On the contrary, the sugar factories in Přerov and Lipník were abolished.

At its beginnings the sugar factory had to overcome also transport problems, because all material and goods had to be transported by horses from the next railway station in Přerov and Lipník. That is why the leading of sugar factory negotiated with the directory of North Railway about the establishment of railway station in cadaster of the community Malé Prosenice. The negotiations resulted in the establishment of personal railway station in 1881, goods station in 1885 and building of railway station on the today´ s place in 1987. The railway station became a public station in 1917 and in 1910 a factory siding was established in the sugar factory. The sugar factory also built the first bridge over the Bečva near Grymov and it participated in the street building in the closed surroundings.

The establishment of the sugar factory also accelerated the establishment of the post office in Malé Prosenice in 1890 and the sugar factory took part in the establishment of cooperative dairy in 1900 and company brickworks in 1910 in Malé Prosenice.