The US sugar cane industry may see a revival as Coca-Cola introduces new products
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Coca-Cola’s plans to fire sugar-sweetened soda later this year are a welcome blessing for the smallest Sugarcane economy In the US, an industry expert told Fox Business.
In its revenue report on Tuesday, Beverage Giant announced that it plans to launch new products made with real sugar this fall to ensure cleaner ingredients in the country’s food supply amid ongoing pressure from the Trump administration.
Brianle, a food scientist and leading food consultant at Mendocino Food Consulting, said if the drink sources cane sugar from the US, this would be welcome news for the Florida, Texas and Louisiana communities.
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After 1960, sugar cane production increased dramatically in Florida, the nation’s most sugarcane producer, after it stopped importing sugar from Cuba. Most of it is produced in organic soil along southern Florida and southeastern coasts, with the region not from the average standard sugar islands of about 2.06 million, on average, to a normal sugar area of 2.06 million. (USDA).

After being processed at a factory in Thibodeau, Louisiana, a pile of sugar from raw canes is found in the warehouse. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Production is expanding in Louisiana. According to the USDA, when rice comes back for competing crops such as rice and soybeans, the sugarcane area is specifically increasing. Every year from 2017 to 2021, the state produced 1,782 million tons of unrefined sugar.
Meanwhile, Texas sugar cane is produced in the lower part of the Rio Grande Valley, at the southern tip of the state. Since 2017, the USDA estimated that state farmers have harvested about 36,100 acres per year, producing around 143,000 tonnes. Unrefined sugar every year.
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But not everyone agrees that Coca-Cola’s latest announcement will make a huge difference to the industry.
Arun Sundaram, vice president and senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, said Coca-Cola will complement the company’s existing portfolio with new products and will not replace Core Coca-Cola products, and he doesn’t know how much this latest innovation will increase to sugar producers in these states.

Mechanical harvesters cut sugar cane from Creewiston, Florida. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images / Getty Images)
According to LE, the cane sugar industry has become a huge hit in the past decades after high-fructose corn syrup has become a practical sweetener in the country due to its low cost. In the 1980s, even the huge Coca-Cola of beverages exchanged sugar in canes with high tariffs. High fructose corn syrup This was a cheap alternative for corn farm subsidies.
But the move to do so directly hinders local and local communities in Texas, Louisiana and Florida. This relies on cane sugar production as a source of income for workers in the region.
According to LE, the sugar production plant scores not only limit production capacity, but have been completely closed as a result.
Cane sugar is a seasonal plant with very specific timing for harvesting. This means that production facilities will not remain open throughout the year. Instead, the production of cane focuses on limited windows in the year when it can be pushed, evaporated and refined, Le said.
“Once all cane harvests are completed, the facilities will remain unavailable, the plants will no longer need workers and will impose high economic costs to ensure production is completed with as much efficiency as possible,” Le added.
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Cane sugar is a seasonal plant with very specific timing for harvesting. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Many of these sugar cane companies operate as cooperatives and due to limited growth in the industry, there was little incentive to expand sugar cane planting.
Ticker | safety | last | change | change % |
---|---|---|---|---|
that | Coca-Cola Co. | 69.17 | -0.46 |
-0.65% |
As businesses follow in the footsteps of Coca-Cola, “Economic benefits can balance the normal breeding grounds of sugar cane breeding grounds, especially as sugar cane-producing regions compete with farmland for competing staple crops in low-cost international markets, like rice and soybeans.