Donald Trump wants to make Coca-Cola "better" again, but the jury's still out on who really benefits from the change.
"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,” the US President wrote on his social media site Truth Social on Wednesday. "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!"
Coca-Cola uses high-fructose corn syrup in Coke sold in the US, but in countries such as Mexico and Australia, as well as in Europe, its drinks are sweetened with cane sugar.
Interestingly, Trump is famously known to favour only Diet Coke, which uses aspartame as a calorie-free beverage. He's such a fan of the drink that he reportedly has a red button installed on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office that he can press to have a White House butler bring one in for him.
But the presidential pronouncement is in line with the government's Make America Healthy Again initiative, which has been pushing food companies to alter their formulations.
Coca-Cola, meanwhile, has not confirmed the shift.
"We appreciate President Trump's enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand," a spokesperson said. "More details on new innovative offerings within our Coca-Cola product range will be shared soon."
Coca-Cola has used cane sugar to sweeten their drinks in the US, but shifted to corn syrup in the 1980s.
Is cane sugar healthier than corn syrup?
While cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup are both sugars, the former is generally considered slightly less harmful of the two. This is because corn syrup has a higher concentration of fructose, excessive consumption of which can lead to obesity and health problems such as diabetes.
In countries such as India, sugarcane has been used to make "healthy sugar" jaggery for more than 3,000 years. Made by boiling down sugarcane until it thickens and solidifies, jaggery is not treated with chemicals and retains many of the plant's natural nutrients.
But Trump's announcement could endanger the livelihood of corn farmers in his own country.
“Replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar doesn’t make sense," Corn Refiners Association president and chief executive John Bode said in a statement to AP.
"President Trump stands for American manufacturing jobs, American farmers and reducing the trade deficit. Replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar would cost thousands of American food manufacturing jobs, depress farm income and boost imports of foreign sugar, all with no nutritional benefit."
US cane sugar production in the 2025-26 season is expected to account for about 30 per cent of the US sugar supply, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture.
Will the taste of Coca-Cola change?
Trump says cane sugar-sweetened Coke is better, but the difference in taste between a Coke sweetened with cane sugar and with corn syrup is subtle, and is largely down to personal preference.
Cane sugar is known to have a cleaner, bodied taste compared to high fructose corn syrup's lingering sweetness.
Coca-Cola has been importing Mexican Coke to the US since 2005, and it is sold across the country alongside its American-produced drinks.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
