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A fizzy delicacy popular with Texans could be jeopardized if President Donald Trump enacts trade policies hostile to the U.S.’ southern neighbor.
Coca-Cola bottled in Mexico, dubbed “Mexican Coke,” has gained popularity during the past decade as hipsters flocked to the drink with a sleek glass bottle and a reputation for using cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup.
The retro-looking beverage is ubiquitous in San Antonio and South Texas. Grocery stores, big-box retailers and convenience stores stock individual bottles in coolers and soda aisles. Trendy restaurants and food trucks order them lest they lose their hipster cred. But the sugary drink has long been in a mainstay in Latino communities in the U.S.
But supplies of the popular fizzy drink along with other sodas sweetened with Mexican cane sugar could be disrupted should the Trump administration pursue aggressive trade policies toward Mexico.
A previous trade dispute forced at least one Texas soda manufacturer to switch to U.S. sugar.
Austin-based Party Time Beverages had used Mexican cane sugar in its Doppleganger line of sodas, owner Joe Stanke said. The company supplies sodas to Torchy’s Tacos and Hopdoddy Burger Bar, both of which each have San Antonio locations, among other Austin-area restaurants.
But in 2014, a spat between the U.S. and Mexico over prices of Mexican cane sugar disrupted his supply. Although the two nations eventually came to an agreement, “we just bit the bullet and said, ‘We’re just going to get it in the states and pay more,’” Stanke said. The company’s clients and customers didn’t note a change in taste, he said.
At least two companies — Coca-Cola FEMSA, based in Mexico City, and Arca Continental — handle Coca-Cola’s bottling operations south of the border.
A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola, based in Atlanta, declined in an email to answer questions about whether the company has contingency plans should a trade war break out between the U.S. and Mexico, how many bottling plants the company uses in Mexico and whether the company has found any significant difference in taste between soda bottled in the U.S. and in Mexico.
“While Coca-Cola from Mexico sold in the U.S. continues to grow, it is minimal compared to the (overall) sales of Coca-Cola in the U.S.,” the spokeswoman said.
Click here for the full report on ExpressNews.com or read Friday’s edition of the Express-News.
jfechter@express-news.net
Twitter: @JFreports
The Washington Post and Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
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