Coca-Cola Announces New Product With Cane Sugar but Stops Short of the Complete Overhaul Trump Promised

About a week after President Trump claimed that Coca-Cola would switch to using cane sugar in Coke the soft drink company confirmed the news — sort of.In an earnings release on Tuesday the company says that it plans to launch “an offering made with U.S. cane sugar” in the Fall but it will “complement” its Coca-Cola product line instead of a complete overhaul of its products.Mr. Trump, whose Diet Coke-loving habits have been widely reported, claimed last week with a posting on his Truth Social network that Coca-Cola would switch to cane sugar.“I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so,” wrote the president.“I’d like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You’ll see. It’s just better!”Coca-Cola’s announcement is a relief for Midwest farmers, who supply the current sweetener used in most soft drinks, high-fructose corn syrup.The Corn Refiners Association claims replacing high fructose corn syrup in drinks could be a disaster for domestic farmers.“Replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar doesn’t make sense,” says the association’s CEO, John Bode.That’s because sugar is America’s largest imported agricultural commodity subject to a quota and costs almost twice as much in the United States as anywhere else in the world, according to the industry group Sweetener Users Association.High fructose corn syrup is cheaper, due in part to subsidies to corn growers, and has replaced sugar in soft drinks in this country since the 1980s. The federal government handed corn producers $3.2 billion last year, accounting for 30 percent of all farm subsidies.Coca-Cola uses cane sugar in other countries and the Mexican version is imported to the United States, but that version is more expensive than the domestic product. It is unclear how the new product will be priced in the United States.PepsiCo — which produces rival soft drink Pepsi — says government policy needs to change to make a complete switch back to sugar a reality in the United States.PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta says the company already sells a version of Pepsi that uses cane sugar as its primary sweetener but it is costlier to produce.“There is an opportunity for sugar cane, some consumers like it,” Mr. Laguarta said in a CNBC interview. “Cane sugar is more expensive in the U.S. than in many parts of the world so I think there is a conversation with the government, probably, on ‘How do we make sugar affordable in the U.S.?’”

Coca-Cola Announces New Product With Cane Sugar but Stops Short of the Complete Overhaul Trump Promised

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