During the refining process, the natural sugar that is stored in the cane stalk or beet root is separated from the rest of the plant material. For sugarcane, this is accomplished by a) grinding the cane to extract the juice; b) boiling the juice until the syrup thickens and crystallizes; c) spinning the crystals in a centrifuge to produce raw sugar; d) shipping the raw sugar to a refinery where it is e) washed and filtered to remove impurities and color; and f) crystallized, dried and packaged. Beet sugar processing is accomplished in one continuous process without the raw sugar stage. The sugar beets are washed, sliced and soaked in hot water to remove the juice. The sugar-laden juice is purified, filtered, concentrated and dried in a series of steps similar to sugarcane processing.