Consumers are increasingly searching for Coca-Cola without any sugar at all, despite a confirmation from US President Donald Trump that the company agreed to use cane sugar in its drinks.
“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,” Trump wrote on his social media site earlier this week. "This will be a very good move by them - you'll see. It's just better!"
Coca-Cola didn’t confirm the change but said it appreciated Trump's enthusiasm and would share details on new offerings soon.
Duane Stanford, the editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, said growth is "significant" for Coca-Cola from the sale of its Zero Sugar product, a drink using artificial sweeteners aspartame and stevia. Global cases of zero sugar were up 14 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, compared to the company's total case volumes, which only went up 2 per cent.
In the soft drink market, Stanford said Coke Zero Sugar was the seventh biggest seller by volume in the US last year, with a 4 per cent market share, compared to Coke's overall brand, which had 19 per cent market share.
Competitor PepsiCo also told the Associated Press that 60 per cent of its sales volumes in major markets in the second quarter came from low- or no-sugar drinks.
Shift away from corn syrup could bring 'logistics headaches'
Stanford said he doubts Coca-Cola will fully shift away from high fructose corn syrup, which has sweetened other Coke products in the US since the 1980s.
There would be tremendous supply chain and logistics headaches, he said, and the U.S. doesn't make enough sugar for Coke's needs.
He expects the Atlanta-based company will offer a cane sugar-sweetened version in the US like Pepsi-Co has been doing since 2009.
The corn industry wasn’t happy with the speculation that Coca-Cola could move towards cane sugar.
In a statement Wednesday, Corn Refiners Association President and CEO John Bode said replacing high fructose corn syrup with cane sugar makes no sense and would cost thousands of American manufacturing jobs.
