Corn prices making Coke gulp

CHICAGO (Reuters) — Coca-Cola may investigate alternatives to high fructose corn syrup, its main sweetener in the U.S. market, because of high corn prices, a company executive said Monday.

“The price increases that we’re seeing for corn and high fructose corn syrup are unlike we’ve seen in many a year. We’re clearly feeling the pinch and it’s been tough,” said Scott Young, a food service division executive at the company.

Speaking at the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago, he said Coca-Cola was starting to offer higher-yield concentrated syrups to customers to help them reduce costs.

The new syrup formulations, which Young said will start rolling out in 2007 and be adopted more widely in 2008 and 2009, would make soft drinks at a ratio of one part syrup to seven to eight parts water. Most current formulations yield one part syrup to five or 5.5 parts water, he said.

Reuters