President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s crackdown on the ultra-processed food industrial complex has triggered a seismic shift in the beverage world. Coca-Cola is reformulating select sodas with cane sugar, and PepsiCo's CEO has indicated similar moves. The pivot away from high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS-55), a sweetener long associated with America's obesity and metabolic health crisis, marks a major victory for the "Make America Healthy Again" movement.
Bloomberg points out that the move to shift soda products via various top brands from HFCS-55 to cane sugar could strain the nation's sugar supply chain...
The push means the U.S. may need to import more expensive sweetener from Mexico and Brazil — particularly if other companies follow suit.
The move threatens to worsen an already stressed supply chain, exposing American companies and consumers to higher prices just as they are facing market upheaval from Trump's tariffs.
U.S. raw cane sugar futures are trading at record highs, with U.S. contracts now more than double the price of global benchmarks, widening the cost gap to an all-time record.
Coke plans to release the soda offering infused with cane sugar in the next several months. This could be a boon for U.S. farmers who grow the crop across Louisiana and Florida at a time when demand has been sluggish.
Bloomberg expanded more about the potential of strained cane sugar supply chains...
The problem is that the U.S. doesn't grow a great deal of cane, making up about 30% of overall American sugar supplies, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The rest comes from imports — about 2.2 million metric tons for the 2025-26 season — or American-grown sugar beets that perform better in colder climates.
If Coke's cane-sweetened version is a success, if would likely put a dent in those U.S. supplies. The higher demand could require more imports, especially from Mexico, which has historically been the U.S.'s biggest sugar supplier, and top sugar producer Brazil.
The other challenge with using healthier ingredients is the increased cost. USDA data shows that refined cane sugar costs more than 52 cents per pound in June, or about 12% more than high-fructose corn syrup.
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MAHA must sharpen its messaging to consumers by making one thing clear: healthier food will cost more than the garbage on store shelves today, but not nearly as much as a cancer treatment later in life. After all, what's the actual price you put on your health?