Sugar

Overview

Sugar is one of the eight base cooking ingredients in Starsand Island. It is produced by processing either Sugarcane or Beetroot at the Separator station. Sugar is one of the most widely used ingredients in the game, appearing in over 40 recipes across the Campfire, Gas Stove, Juicer, and Jam Maker stations. Every single jam recipe requires Sugar, and it features in many popular stove dishes and juicer drinks as well.

Because Sugar is needed in such large quantities, especially for jam production, maintaining a steady supply is one of the key logistics challenges in cooking. Players can either grow Sugarcane or Beetroot and process them at the Separator, or purchase Sugar directly from Aureleaf Kitchen in Starsand Town. Both approaches are viable depending on how much Sugar you need and where you are in the game.

Quick Stats

How to Make Sugar

Sugar is produced at the Separator, a food processing station that converts raw crops into refined cooking ingredients. The Separator is one of the first stations you can craft, requiring only 3 Stone, 3 Softwood, and 5 Fiber at the Worktable. Its blueprint comes free from the Equipment Blueprint Pack at Zerine's General Store.

To make Sugar, place either Sugarcane or Beetroot into the Separator. The station processes the crop and produces Sugar as the output. Each Sugarcane yields 5 Sugar when processed.

Source Crop Comparison

Sugarcane is the preferred crop for Sugar production because it grows in all four seasons, giving you a year-round supply. Although it takes longer to grow (6.3 days versus Beetroot's 1.8 days), each Sugarcane yields 5 Sugar, and you harvest 4 per plant for a total of 20 Sugar per harvest cycle. Beetroot is a useful supplement during Summer and Autumn, especially early in the game when you have not yet reached Junior Farmer status to unlock Sugarcane seeds.

Ingredient Sourcing

There are two main ways to keep your Sugar supply stocked: farming and purchasing.

Farming Sugarcane

Sugarcane Seeds are purchased from Graminova at the Happiness Seed Shop once you reach Junior Farmer status. Sugarcane requires a Paddy Field to grow. Dedicate several Paddy Fields to Sugarcane and stagger your plantings so that you always have a batch maturing. Since Sugarcane grows in all seasons, you never need to switch crops or worry about seasonal gaps.

Each Sugarcane plant yields 4 units per harvest. Processing all 4 through the Separator gives you 20 Sugar from a single planting. If you run multiple Jam Makers (each batch takes 3 Sugar), one harvest of Sugarcane provides enough Sugar for over 6 batches of jam.

Farming Beetroot

Beetroot is available from the start of the game as a Starter crop. Seeds cost 55 Coins from the Happiness Seed Shop and the crop grows on standard Farmland in just 1.8 days. Beetroot is limited to Summer and Autumn, so it cannot serve as your sole Sugar source year-round. However, its fast growth time and early availability make it a practical option for Sugar production in the early game before you unlock Sugarcane.

Buying From Aureleaf Kitchen

Sugar can also be purchased directly from Aureleaf Kitchen in Starsand Town. Multiple sources note that Sugar is cheap at this shop, making it a convenient option if you need a small amount quickly and do not want to wait for crops to grow. For large-scale cooking or jam production, farming Sugarcane is more economical in the long run.

Stove and Campfire Recipes Using Sugar

The following dishes are prepared on the Campfire or Gas Stove and require Sugar as one of their ingredients.

Most stove recipes call for 1 to 5 Sugar per dish. Braised Pork Belly requires the most at 5 Sugar, while Hot Dry Noodles and Laba Congee use just 1 Sugar each. The majority of desserts and baked goods call for 3 Sugar.

Juicer Recipes Using Sugar

The Juicer produces drinks and smoothies. Many of these require Sugar combined with various fruits.

Juicer drinks typically require 1 to 4 Sugar. The notable exception is Rosy Glow, which requires 13 Sugar for a single batch. Golden Lemonade offers one of the highest recovery values among juicer drinks at +206.

Jam Maker Recipes Using Sugar

The Jam Maker combines fruit with Sugar to produce jams. Every jam recipe follows the same formula: 2 of the same fruit plus 3 Sugar. Jams are excellent for energy recovery and sell at premium prices, making them one of the most profitable food items in the game.

Star Mango Jam (+295) and Star Plum Jam (+289) offer the highest energy recovery of any food items in the game. Jadelume Jam (+284) and Persimmon Jam (+234) are also high-recovery options. On the lower end, Green Grape Jam and Red Grape Jam each restore +130 energy.

Running multiple Jam Makers simultaneously is a common strategy. Since each batch takes roughly half an in-game day to process, having 3 to 5 Jam Makers running at once lets you convert large quantities of fruit and Sugar into finished jams without long waits.

Sell Price and Economics

Sugar on its own is not a high-value item. Its real economic value comes from being processed into cooked dishes and jams, which sell for significantly more than the raw ingredient. Individual jams sell for around 500 Coins or more each, making jam production one of the most profitable processing chains in the game.

The most profitable Sugar pipeline is: grow Sugarcane, process it into Sugar at the Separator, combine the Sugar with high-value fruits in the Jam Maker, and sell the finished jams. Star Mango Jam and Star Plum Jam command the highest prices. For even better returns, sell finished products at the Merchant Ship, which pays roughly double what regular vendors offer for select goods.

If you are selling raw Sugarcane at 99 Coins per unit instead of processing it, you are leaving significant profit on the table. Four Sugarcane (one harvest) sells for 396 Coins raw, but processing those same 4 Sugarcane into 20 Sugar and using that Sugar in jam production can yield thousands of Coins worth of finished jams.

Processing Tips

• Build multiple Separators. The Separator is cheap to craft (3 Stone, 3 Softwood, 5 Fiber). If you are processing large volumes of crops, having 2 to 3 Separators lets you process Sugarcane, Wheat (for Flour), and vegetables at the same time without waiting.

• Sugarcane over Beetroot for year-round supply. Sugarcane grows in all four seasons on Paddy Fields. Beetroot only grows in Summer and Autumn. For a reliable Sugar source, prioritize Sugarcane once you reach Junior Farmer.

• Use Beetroot early game. Beetroot is a Starter crop available from Day 1 with a fast 1.8-day growth time. Use it for Sugar during your first Summer and Autumn before you unlock Sugarcane.

• Stock up before jam sessions. Each jam batch takes 3 Sugar. If you plan to run 5 Jam Makers, you need 15 Sugar per cycle. One Sugarcane harvest (4 units = 20 Sugar) covers more than one full cycle across all 5 Jam Makers.

• Buy Sugar for small needs. If you only need 1 to 3 Sugar for a single recipe, purchasing from Aureleaf Kitchen is faster than growing and processing crops.

• Pair with Sprinklers and Bumblebees. Automate your Sugarcane farming with sprinklers and place Bumblebee hives nearby to speed up growth. This reduces the hands-on work needed to keep Sugar production running.

Tips

• Sugar is one of seven cooking ingredients produced at the Separator. The other six are Flour, Vegetable Juice, Fruit Pulp, Protein Powder, Meat Bites, and Fish Fillet. The eighth base ingredient, Fine Salt, comes from the Charcoal Kiln.

• Berry Daifuku is a particularly useful recipe because it grants the Pet Pal buff alongside its +116 energy recovery. Keep Sugar and Flour stocked if you plan to cook it regularly.

• When running large-scale jam operations, the bottleneck is usually fruit supply rather than Sugar. One Sugarcane harvest produces enough Sugar for over 6 jam batches, but you need 2 fruit per batch from fruit trees that take much longer to grow.

• The Seed Cream Cake recipe requires Sugar alongside Cream (from the Separator) and Flour. It grants the Creamy Seeds buff, which gives a chance for harvested crops to drop bonus seeds. This is one of the most useful farming buffs in the game.

• Osmanthus Syrup requires 4 Sugar and is one of the higher-recovery stove recipes at +163. It is unlocked through the Senior Farmer Trial.