Companies aligning with MAHA means… cane sugar and beef fat?
Coca-Cola announced today it would introduce a new version of its iconic beverage sweetened with cane sugar, not corn syrup — sending corn growers into a panic. (The US also doesn’t produce enough sugar and so Coca-Cola would have to import it, potentially increasing shelf prices and adding to the trade deficit that Trump is trying to tackle.) PepsiCo, meanwhile, announced a health-forward version of its flagship drink.
If the politics of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement are curious, uniting far-right conspiracy theorists and far-left granola enthusiasts, so is the business of MAHA. Shares of the parent company of Steak ‘N Shake, which has embraced bitcoin and beef tallow, are up 28% this year, while Sweetgreen’s are down 55%. As one frustrated lobbyist told me last week in Washington, “It’s strange that nowhere in the MAHA game plan is ‘eat some vegetables.’”