CoBank said U.S. sugar demand rose 0.6% in the first half of 2025/26 as HFCS use fell 3.5%, but health campaigns and wider GLP-1 adoption could pressure demand over the next decade.
U.S. sugar demand remains resilient, with CoBank citing USDA data showing cane and beet sugar demand rose 0.6% in the first half of the 2025/26 marketing year while high-fructose corn syrup deliveries fell 3.5%, suggesting continued preference for natural sweeteners over more processed alternatives. The bank said stronger deliveries to wholesale grocers, food distributors, beverage manufacturers, bakery and cereal producers, and confectionery companies have supported stable consumption, even as 75% of consumers in a 2025 survey said they were trying to limit or avoid sugar. CoBank warned that longer-term risks are building from health-focused campaigns such as Make America Healthy Again and the wider use of GLP-1 drugs, which J.P. Morgan estimates could reduce annual U.S. food and beverage spending by $30 billion by 2030 and $55 billion by 2034.