Coca-Cola Will Get More Expensive if it Changes to Cane Sugar. Here's Why
www.newsweek.com

... While cane sugar is still used in many coke variants made overseas, since the 1980s, Coca-Cola sold in the U.S. has primarily relied on corn syrup as a sweetener because of its relative cost-effectiveness.

The U.S. imports both corn and sugar, but its domestic agricultural base has significantly reduced reliance on imports of the former. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, the U.S. imported $2.58 billion worth of raw sugar, of which $1.66 billion was cane, compared to only $258 million worth of corn in 2024.

Domestic corn production has been boosted by nearly a century of subsidies in the form of direct payments, crop insurance programs, and price supports for American farmers. These totaled reached $3.2 billion in 2024, making corn the most-subsidized crop in the country. ...