President Donald Trump’s demand that Coca-Cola return to using cane sugar in its iconic drink appears to have hit a major snag.
The soda manufacturer’s Chief Financial Officer John Murphy told Bloomberg Tuesday that increased production of the original recipe has been stymied by the key ingredient’s limited availability in the U.S.
“It’s going to be a measured roll-out,” Murphy said. “There is only a certain amount of cane sugar available in the United States.”
Coca Cola largely stopped using cane or beet sugar to flavor its drink in the early 1980s amid a spike in prices due to import quotas and global market volatility, opting instead for corn syrup, readily available in the U.S., as a cheaper alternative.
Cane sugar continues to be used in Mexico, accounting for the growing success of “Mexican Coke” in the U.S., and in kosher versions of the drink rolled out during Passover, when the Jewish community avoids consuming foods containing corn or wheat, among other ingredients.
Trump announced with great fanfare earlier in July that he had been “speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so,” only to have the wind taken out of his sails by a fairly non-committal response from the Big Soda manufacturer that “more details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon.”
Relations soured on the same day after Coca Cola took issue with the president’s assertions the original recipe was healthier than the post-1980s iteration, insisting corn syrup is not only “safe” but also “has about the same number of calories per serving as table sugar and is metabolized in a similar way by your body.”
The spat appeared to have been laid to rest later that week when the beverage titan confirmed that “as part of its ongoing innovation agenda, this fall in the United States, the company plans to launch an offering made with U.S. cane sugar to expand its Trademark Coca-Cola product range.”
As Murphy’s comments to Bloomberg Tuesday make clear, it’s since proven no easy task.
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