Terra Mauricia: From Sugar Fields to Sustainable Growth in Mauritius

Since its listing in 1990, Terra Mauricia Ltd (originally Harel Frères) has demonstrated remarkable resilience and evolution on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. Initially rooted in sugar production, the company diversified into energy, beverages, and property development, navigating industry reforms, commodity price swings, and global shocks like the 2008 financial crisis and COVID-19. Its share price reflected these cycles—rising steadily in the early 1990s, peaking in the mid-1990s, and facing downturns around 1998 and again during EU sugar reforms in the mid-2000s. Despite setbacks, Terra consistently maintained or prudently adjusted its dividend policy, preserving shareholder trust.

From 2011 onward, following a major rebranding and restructuring, Terra redefined itself as a diversified investment group. The stock delivered stable returns, supported by earnings from its expanding property and brands clusters. Even during the pandemic, Terra bounced back swiftly, increasing its annual dividend from MUR 0.57 in 2020 to MUR 1.25 by 2025. With a growing asset base, improved earnings per share, and a steadily rising dividend, Terra has cemented its reputation as one of Mauritius’ most consistent and forward-looking listed companies.

Early Roots in Sugar (1838–20th Century)

Terra Mauricia Ltd’s story begins in 1838, when three brothers – Victor, Pierre, and Eugène Harel – acquired the Belle Vue sugar estate in northern. In an era when sugar was the lifeblood of the island’s economy, the Harel brothers planted the seeds of what would become the country’s oldest listed company. Through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, their enterprise flourished. The family expanded its holdings by acquiring neighboring plantations – including the Labourdonnais estate in 1915 and Solitude estate in 1925 – weaving a patchwork of fertile cane fields across the Pamplemousses district. By 1920, the next generation formally consolidated these ventures as Société Harel Frères, founded by the children of Nemours Harel (Victor’s son). This marked the transition from a family venture to a structured company, even as the business remained firmly rooted in sugar and family stewardship.

Throughout the 20th century, Harel Frères grew in tandem with Mauritius’s sugar industry. The group not only acquired more sugar factories – such as Beau Plan in – but also ventured into related activities that presaged future diversification. In 1932, for instance, Harel Frères took a stake in the Mauritius OK Distillery, an early move beyond raw sugar that foreshadowed Terra’s later entry into beverages. The company incorporated as a limited company (Harel Frères Ltd) in 1960, bringing all the family’s sugar interests under one corporate roof. By mid-century, the Harel group had become a pillar of the Mauritian economy – a major sugar producer with deep agricultural know-how passed down through generations. The resilient family ownership and hands-on management style carried the company through challenges from world wars to Mauritius’s independence, always guided by a long-term vision centered on cane cultivation and sugar production.

Diversification and Evolution (1970s–2000s)

As Mauritius modernized, so did Harel Frères. The 1970s brought pivotal changes: in 1971 the group founded the Mauritius OK Bottling Plant (the origin of today’s Grays Inc.) to add value to its distilled spirits. This was a strategic step to move up the value chain – turning molasses (a byproduct of sugar) into rum, and eventually into branded beverages. By 1979, Harel Frères pioneered the production of specialty sugars at its Solitude factory, becoming one of the first in Mauritius to go beyond bulk raw sugar. These premium, higher-value sugars catered to niche markets and demonstrated an innovative streak in an age-old industry. Such forward-thinking initiatives helped the company thrive even as global sugar prices fluctuated, and they set the stage for Terra’s identity as both a guardian of tradition and an innovator.

A milestone in this era was Harel Frères’ listing on the newly formed Stock Exchange of Mauritius in 1990. This public listing introduced the company to a broader base of shareholders (today numbering over 2,300) while cementing its status as a stalwart of the Mauritian corporate landscape. Indeed, with origins dating back to 1838, Terra Mauricia is often noted as the oldest firm on the exchange – a living link between the colonial-era economy and the modern financial market. The 1990s also saw Harel Frères extending its reach beyond Mauritius. In 1997 the group invested in Sucrivoire of Côte d’Ivoire, taking a stake in an Ivorian sugar producer. This move into West Africa showed the company’s ambition to grow regionally and diversify geographically. (To this day, Terra retains a 25.5% stake in Sucrivoire, which produces around 90,000 tonnes of sugar annually.)

By the turn of the millennium, the once single-sector sugar business had transformed into a budding conglomerate. A key venture was energy production: in 1996 Harel Frères incorporated Compagnie Thermique de Belle Vue (now Terragen Ltd) and by 2000 commissioned a modern cogeneration power plant adjacent to its mill. This 2×35 MW facility at Belle Vue produces electricity by burning bagasse (sugar cane residue) during harvest season and coal in the off-season. Selling around 370 GWh of power to the national grid annually, while also supplying steam to the sugar mill, the Terragen plant made Harel Frères a pioneer of independent power production in Mauritius. The project was developed in partnership with a French renewable energy firm, Albioma, under a 25-year power purchase agreement. This not only added a new revenue stream but also underscored the synergies of the sugar-energy nexus – using cane byproducts to light up Mauritian homes.

Meanwhile, the beverages arm flourished. Grays & Co Ltd (the spirits and distribution subsidiary) expanded its portfolio through strategic alliances. In 2004, Grays teamed up with Quartier Français of Réunion Island to create premium rums (the New Grove range). By 2006, it attracted South African beverage giant Distell, which took a 26% stake in Grays and helped broaden the lineup of imported wines and spirits available for local distribution. These partnerships enriched the company’s expertise and brand portfolio. By the late 2000s, the once purely sugar-focused Harel group was active in agro-industry, energy, alcohol production, and consumer goods distribution – reflecting a conscious strategy to diversify and remain resilient. In 2008, the company even formalized its social responsibility efforts by establishing a CSR committee, foreshadowing the creation of the Terra Foundation to channel funds into community projects. All these moves were transforming the venerable sugar estate into a multi-sector business, while still leveraging its core strengths: extensive land holdings (about 7,000 hectares of Mauritius freehold land) and deep expertise in cultivating and processing sugar cane.

The Rise of Terra Mauricia (2010s – Today)

The new decade brought a new identity. In 2012, Harel Frères underwent a rebranding to Terra Mauricia Ltd – a name reflecting the company’s connection to the land (“terra”) of Mauritius and its broadening horizons. The rebranding marked a symbolic break from a purely family-named enterprise to a diversified group looking toward the future. Terra proudly celebrated the 175th anniversary of its origins in 2013, honoring a heritage intertwined with Mauritius’s own history. By 2015, Terra was among the first companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius’s Sustainability Index (SEMSI), underscoring its commitment to sustainable business practices.

Around this time, Terra intensified its expansion into property development. The company had already converted old estate land into the Beau Plan Business Park in 2009, and in 2017 it created Novaterra, a dedicated property arm. Novaterra’s flagship project is the Beau Plan Smart City, launched in 2019 on a vast tract of sugar land adjacent to the historic Beau Plan mill. This smart city is an ambitious venture aligning with the government’s scheme for sustainable urban hubs. Spanning some 230 hectares, Beau Plan Smart City blends residential neighborhoods, a business district, shopping and leisure facilities, and even educational institutions – all integrated into lush natural surroundings. The development is designed to preserve the region’s heritage (the nearby century-old sugar factory has been converted into the L’Aventure du Sucre museum) while fostering modern live-work-play lifestyles. Novaterra partnered with international experts, such as urban planners from Arup, to ensure Beau Plan embodies smart, green design – from rehabilitating irrigation canals to planting over 25,000 new trees across the site. The result is a new town where history and innovation meet. Beau Plan’s Mahogany Shopping Promenade, for example, has quickly become a popular destination, drawing about 237,000 visitors each month as people are attracted to the city’s vibrant mix of culture, commerce, and community events. Land that once only grew sugar cane is now sprouting offices, schools, art centers and homes, illustrating Terra’s ability to reinvent its assets for the future.

This period also saw Terra streamline its structure into five key clusters – Cane, Power, Brands, Property & Leisure, and Construction – each operating with a degree of autonomy under the group umbrella. In the Cane cluster (now branded Agriterra), Terra remains one of Mauritius’s top sugar producers, but with a focus on specialty sugars and efficiency. Its Belle Vue factory, regarded as one of the island’s most modern mills, can crush 336 tonnes of cane per hour. About 6,000 hectares of Terra’s lands are under cane cultivation, and in a typical crop year the mill processes ~875,000 tonnes of cane to produce around 93,000 tonnes of sugar. Notably, about 85,000 tonnes of that is value-added specialty sugar tailored for international markets – a legacy of innovation dating back to the 1970s. Terra has mechanized roughly 75% of its harvesting operations, reflecting its drive for productivity through technology. The Cane cluster has even extended its expertise overseas via Sucrivoire in Ivory Coast, providing a foothold in Africa and a hedge against local industry risks. And beyond production, Terra honors the sugar heritage in creative ways: its sugar museum and interactive exhibits at L’Aventure du Sucre educate thousands of visitors annually, a reminder that this company’s history is virtually the history of Mauritius in microcosm.

Terra’s Power cluster, anchored by Terragen Ltd, underscores how the group marries tradition with sustainability. The 70 MW Terragen power station at Belle Vue supplies roughly 370 GWh of electricity per year, about a sixth of Mauritius’s total power generation. Crucially, much of this energy comes from renewable bagasse biomass during the sugar crop season, with coal used in the off-season. Terra has embraced a national vision to phase out coal and increase renewables: recently Terragen signed an agreement with the Central Electricity Board to start using locally sourced wood chips as a fuel – the first initiative of its kind in Mauritius. This move will diversify fuel supply and cut coal usage, moving Terra closer to a 100% renewable, coal-free electricity production model in coming years. It also aligns with Mauritius’s goal of 60% renewable energy by 2035. In addition, Terra has installed solar panels across some facilities (for example, adding 300 kW of rooftop solar at its Grays warehouse) to power operations sustainably. Even the waste from its distillery is recycled – vinasse (a residue from rum-making) is processed into bio-fertiliser through a venture called TopTerra, exemplifying a circular economy approach. All these steps illustrate Terra’s evolution into an energy player with an eye on green innovation, turning sugar cane “trash” into electricity and organic fertilizer – literally cultivating resources for a better future, as the company’s mission states.

The Brands cluster, managed through Terra Brands (formerly Grays & Co), has become Mauritius’s leading producer and distributor of alcoholic beverages. Building on a distilling tradition that dates to the 1930s, Terra today produces award-winning rums under the New Grove label and high-purity ethanol for industry. In 2024, the group distilled 5.5 million liters of alcohol, a 41% jump thanks to surging post-pandemic demand.

Its state-of-the-art Grays Distillery, located at Beau Plan, turns molasses into rum in a single continuous process, while Grays Inc. handles marketing and distribution of not only in-house brands but also an extensive portfolio of imported wines, whiskies, and specialty spirits. Through distribution tie-ups with global partners (like Distell, which brought popular labels into the folden., Terra’s Brands division ensures that it has a presence at local resorts, restaurants, and retailers across the island. The cluster even distributes pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and snacks, leveraging its logistics network beyond beverages. This diversification within the Brands segment creates a stable flow of revenue insulated from any single product’s ups and downs. With tourism in Mauritius rebounding strongly, Terra’s beverage business saw profits climb nearly 30% in the past year – a testament to how crucial this segment has become to the group’s fortunes alongside sugar. Notably, sustainability is also a focus here: Grays has installed enough solar capacity to generate all its daytime power needs off-peak, and the shift to eco-friendly packaging and production is ongoing.

The Property & Leisure cluster is Terra’s growth frontier. Under the Novaterra banner, Terra is converting under-utilized land into thriving communities and commercial assets. The Beau Plan Smart City is the crown jewel – a long-term development expected to host 1,750+ housing units and 540,000 square meters of offices and retail space once fully built. Already, the first residential neighborhoods (such as Mango Village and the Indigo villas) have seen strong sales, and businesses are setting up offices amidst landscaped parks and a scenic lake. Leisure attractions, from the Mahogany mall to cultural events at the creatively repurposed old sugar factory, draw locals and expatriates alike, injecting new life into the region. Terra’s vision is for Beau Plan to be an inclusive city, integrating nearby villages and providing amenities from schools to sports facilities – effectively reinventing a former sugar estate as a modern ecosystem of economic and social activity. Beyond Beau Plan, Terra’s property portfolio includes the Beau Plan Business Park and other real estate projects, as well as the L’Aventure du Sucre museum and a nature park, which all fall under “Leisure.” These not only generate revenue but also preserve and showcase Mauritius’s heritage.

With property development contributing significantly to the bottom line (the cluster’s profit jumped 52% to MUR 426 million in 2024), Terra is demonstrating how a 19th-century landholder can transform into a 21st-century city-builder.

Rounding out the group is the Construction cluster, which complements the property business. Terra holds a major stake in Rehm Grinaker Construction Co. Ltd, a leading construction firm in Mauritius known for delivering complex projects on time and within budget. Through Rehm Grinaker, Terra has in-house capability to execute construction of its smart city infrastructure, industrial buildings, and third-party projects alike. The construction arm has been busy with works like new social housing developments and roads, contributing to the national development while securing steady contracts. Terra also operates Terrarock Ltd, a joint venture with The United Basalt Products Ltd, which produces building materials such as aggregates, rock sand, and concrete blocks. By leveraging Terrarock’s output (over 330,000 tonnes of rock crushed in 2024), Terra can source materials for its projects efficiently and sell to the broader construction market. These construction-related businesses were once ancillary to sugar (Terrarock began in 1990 as a way to clear rocky cane fields), but today they’ve become profit centers on their own. They also reinforce Terra’s integrated approach: controlling the full chain from land to build-out.

Leadership and Legacy

The driving force behind Terra’s long journey has always been its people – visionary owners, resilient executives, and dedicated employees. The Harel family, of course, stands at the origin. From founders Victor and Pierre Harel in the 1800s to their descendants, the family guided the business for generations, instilling values of tenacity and integrity that remain core to Terra’s culture. Even as the company expanded and professionalized, the Harel lineage maintained an influential presence. To this day, the Harel family’s holding vehicle, Société de Nemours (aptly named after an early patriarch), is the largest shareholder of Terra Mauricia, with roughly 28% ownership. This continuity provides stability and a long-term outlook that many investors find reassuring – decisions are made not for the next quarter only, but for the next generation.

In the modern era, Terra is led by a blend of seasoned industry figures, family members, and independent professionals. Its board of directors, chaired by Alain Rey, brings wide experience from finance and the sugar industry. Rey himself is a veteran executive who formerly ran a major sugar estate (Compagnie Sucrière de Mont Choisy) and served on bank boards. Vice-chairman Didier Harel (no direct relation to the founding family despite the common surname) adds global corporate perspective, having been a top executive at Total’s operations in Africa and Europe. Crucially, a member of the Harel family remains deeply involved: Alexis Harel, a direct descendant, sits on the board and heads Terra’s Brands segment as Managing Director of Grays. Alexis Harel’s long tenure (he joined the business in the 1980s and led the diversification into beverages) personifies Terra’s marriage of tradition with entrepreneurial drive. The company’s day-to-day operations are overseen by Nicolas Maigrot, who was appointed Managing Director in 2016. Maigrot is a well-known figure in Mauritius’s corporate sphere – before joining Terra, he led a major textile group (Ciel Textile) and later one of the country’s largest conglomerates, Ireland Blyth Ltd. His cross-industry expertise helped Terra sharpen its strategic focus and execute complex projects like the smart city. Under Maigrot’s stewardship, Terra has pursued a clear long-term strategy: optimize value from core sugar assets, prune non-core activities, and reinvest in growth areas like property and brands. The results are evident in Terra’s robust financial performance – even amid global challenges, the group earned MUR 1.45 billion in profits in 2024 (≈USD 33 million) on nearly MUR 9.9 billion in revenue, maintaining stable earnings after a record MUR 1.51 billion profit the previous year. Terra’s financial discipline and diversified portfolio have enabled it to consistently reward shareholders (dividends per share were increased by 9.5% in 2024)african while still investing in the future.

It’s worth noting that Terra’s leadership and vision are very much home-grown. Although African corporate circles boast many luminaries – for example, Peter Ndegwa, the Kenyan CEO of Safaricom, represents the kind of world-class executive talent Africa has nurtured – Terra Mauricia’s own journey has been guided largely by Mauritian hands. The company’s executives and board members have deep roots in the local context and a personal understanding of the island’s socio-economic fabric. This local leadership, coupled with selective international partnerships, has given Terra a keen sense of how to balance global best practices with national priorities. The group’s leaders frequently engage with government on industry issues (from sugar sector sustainability to energy policy) and with communities on development plans, ensuring Terra remains a trusted institution in Mauritius. As a diversified conglomerate that still “feels” family-run, Terra enjoys a reputation for integrity and stability. Many of its over 2,000 employeehave spent decades with the company – a testament to a corporate culture that values respect, passion, and innovation just as strongly as it does profit.

A Sustainable Future and Market Relevance

Nearly two centuries after its founding, Terra Mauricia stands as a model of adaptation and sustainable growth. From its origins in the sugar fields of 1838 to its current status as a MUR 26.5 billion asset conglomerate, the company has continually reinvented itself to remain relevant. Today Terra is deeply woven into the fabric of Mauritius’s economy and daily life. It is one of the major cane growers and sugar producers in the country, a significant power producer feeding the grid, a prominent player in consumer goods and beverages, and an emerging leader in real estate development. Such multi-sector presence means Terra’s fortunes are closely linked to Mauritius’s development. For instance, when tourism booms, Terra’s beverage sales and property occupancy rise; when global sugar markets wobble, Terra’s energy and retail earnings provide a cushion. This balance has made Terra’s overall business resilient. Investors eyeing Mauritian opportunities often regard Terra as a bellwether – its performance and strategy send signals about the health of key industries like agriculture, energy, and real estate.

Crucially, Terra has embraced sustainability not just as a buzzword but as a business imperative. The company has adopted international best practices in governance and environmental management.

Terragen was the first Mauritian firm to earn an integrated ISO certification (9001 for quality, 14001 for environment, and 45001 for safety), reflecting its rigorous standards. Group-wide, Terra conducted a carbon footprint assessment and is actively pursuing decarbonization, notably by shifting its power cluster away from coal. In agriculture, Terra works with small planters and invests in irrigation and climate-resilient farming to tackle the risk of drought and declining cane supply. Through the Terra Foundation, the company channels funds and expertise into social projects ranging from education to healthcare. Since its formal inception in 2010, Terra’s foundation has invested over MUR 95 million in more than 350 community projects, benefiting nearly 100,000 people across Mauritius. Whether it’s sponsoring village schools, supporting NGOs, or planting “tiny forests” in partnership with environmental groups to restore native biodiversity, Terra strives to ensure its growth uplifts its community and environment along the way. This holistic approach has earned Terra a spot among the country’s respected corporate citizens. In 2023, at Terra’s Sustainability Summit, CEO Nicolas Maigrot reaffirmed that the group’s ambition is “to cultivate resources for a better future” – echoing its mission – by aligning business goals with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Mauritius’s own Vision 2030 plans.

Looking ahead, Terra Mauricia’s narrative is one of continuing transformation. The company is actively working on the next chapter of its sugar story – exploring novel products like specialty rum sugars and bio-ethanol for export, and advocating for policies to keep the sugar sector viable for future generations. In energy, Terra’s push into biomass and potentially solar/wind farms could make it a key player in the island’s renewable energy transition. The Beau Plan Smart City will unfold in phases over the coming years, potentially creating over 10,000 jobs and a new tech-friendly urban hub in the north. As these projects bear fruit, Terra’s importance in the Mauritian market is set to grow further. The company’s management is also focusing on digitalisation and automation across all clusters – from high-tech cane harvesters to AI-driven distribution logistics – to drive efficiency and stay competitive. All these initiatives paint the picture of a dynamic enterprise that, despite its age, is very much in tune with the times.

In conclusion, Terra Mauricia Ltd offers a compelling story for investors and industry observers: a company that started as a humble sugar plantation in 1838 and evolved into a modern, diversified group by 2025. Its journey has been marked by constant adaptation – from cane to kilowatts, from rum to real estate – guided by prudent leadership and a commitment to sustainable progress. For nearly two centuries, Terra has not only remained relevant in the market; it has helped shape the market, pioneering new sectors and setting benchmarks for corporate responsibility. In the process, it has proven that even in a small island nation, an old company can learn new tricks and continue to grow. As Mauritius positions itself as a resilient, innovation-driven economy in Africa, Terra’s blend of heritage and forward-thinking might just be its formula for another century of successs. The saga of Terra Mauricia – from the era of ox-drawn cane carts to the age of smart cities – stands as an inspiring narrative of longevity, agility, and purposeful growth on the global business stage.

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