Coca-Cola Will Indeed Launch a Cane Sugar Cola This Fall

Coca-Cola Co. will indeed launch a cane sugar-sweetened cola this fall, after Trump said so in a social media post July 16.

“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,” the company said July 22 in its second quarter financial report.

“This addition is designed to complement the company’s strong core portfolio and offer more choices across occasions and preferences,” the company continued. No other specifics, such as which products would contain sugar or what share of a given brand would be devoted to sugar, were given.

“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,” said Trump’s posting on his Truth Social site. “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!”

It’s unclear which came first: the company’s plan to use sugar or the president’s nudge.

While sugar will replace high-fructose corn syrup in at least some of its beverages, there were indications it won’t comprise a big share of any brand. Coke’s shelf allotment already is full at most grocers. Coca-Cola already uses sugar in other beverages, such as its lemonades and teas, and imports into the states Coke cola from Mexico, which uses cane sugar.

High-fructose corn syrup weathered years of criticism from about 2004-2015 after research claimed its fructose – which is only 5 percentage points higher in content than in table sugar – is metabolized differently and could lead to obesity and diabetes. That concern has been resurrected by Health & Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy.

Elsewhere in that second-quarter report, Coca-Cola reported revenues grew 1% although global unit case volume declined 1%. Operating income jumped 63%.