Will a sugar shortage sour your holiday baking?
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HOW MUCH DO WE NEED TO WORRY ABOUT A SUGAR SHORTAGE? It depends on who you ask. “There’s still sugar available in markets. It’s just that the amount on shelves isn’t what we’ve normally seen
in the past,” Penfield explains. Due to climate-related production declines in the world’s top sugar exporters – Thailand, India and Brazil — the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations predicts that global sugar production will face a shortfall of nearly 4 million tons of sugar. But Rob Johansson, director of economics and policy analysis at the American
Sugar Alliance, a trade group representing American sugarcane and sugar beet producers, says it’s a non-issue. “The USDA actually expects the domestic sugar supply will exceed demand by 3.4
billion pounds of sugar,” he says, adding that Americans get most of their sugar (70-75 percent) from U.S. farmers. But demand is as much a factor as supply, according to food shortage
expert Penfield. “The holiday season is a big time for sugar consumption,” he says. So even if it’s just 25 or 30 percent of sugar coming into the United States that Americans rely on,
it may be hard to find at certain times. It also might be more expensive, he adds.