SUA Supply Chain Comments (6-21-2021) - Sweetener Users Association

Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments on “Supply Chains for the Production of Agricultural Commodities and Food Products.” The Sweetener Users Association (SUA) comprises companies that use sugar and other caloric sweeteners to make foods and beverages, as well as trade associations representing these companies. Sweetener-using segments of the food industry directly employ some 600,000 Americans.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, sugar users were already faced with disruptions in the normal supply chain because of weather-related reductions to the 2019 sugar beet crop. The short crop had already caused some major sugar sellers to declare force majeure, limiting users’ access to supplies for which they had already contracted, and causing a scramble for alternatives.