This study aimed to investigate the physicochemical properties of sugar industry and ethanol distillery wastewater and the treatment of the blended wastewater through a two-stage anaerobic reactor. For this treatment, different initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations (5-20 g/L) and hydraulic retention times (HRTs) (2-10 days) were applied. The sugar industry effluent characteristics obtained in terms of organic matter (mg/L) were as follows: 5 days biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5): 654.5-1,968; COD: 1,100-2,148.9; total solids (TS): 2,467-4,012 mg/L; and pH: 6.93-8.43. The ethanol distillery spent wash strengths obtained were: BOD5: 27,600-42,921 mg/L; COD: 126,000-167,534 mg/L; TS: 140,160-170,000 mg/L; and pH: 3.9-4.2. Maximum COD removal of 65% was obtained at optimum condition (initial COD concentration of 10 g/L and HRT of 10 days), and maximum color removal of 79% was recorded under similar treatment conditions. Hence, the performance of the two-stage anaerobic reactor for simultaneous removal of COD and color from high-strength blended wastewater is promising for scaling up in order to mitigate environmental problems of untreated effluent discharge.