Summary
Is the US sugar industry's relationship with politicians, from Florida to Washington DC, just a little bit too sweet?
Gilda Di Carli reports from the Sunshine State, where the newly elected Governor Ron DeSantis has vowed to take on the sugarcane lobby, which he blames for impeding efforts to tackle the gigantic algae blooms that have blighted Florida's rivers and coasts.
Meanwhile Manuela Saragosa speaks to Guy Rolnik, professor of strategic management at the Chicago Booth School, about two of the industry's wealthiest and most politically connected magnates, Alfy and Pepe Fanjul. Plus Ryan Weston of the Sugar Cane League - which represents US growers including the Fanjuls - explains why he thinks the industry gets an unfair rap from the media.
Producer: Laurence Knight
(Picture: Sugar cubes on black background; Credit: tuchkovo/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC. I'm Manuel Salagossa. Coming up, big sugar in the USA and the |
| 0:09.5 | billionaires who lobby on its behalf. Alfie and Pepe are probably two of the most politically |
| 0:15.0 | connected business people in the US. Politics and regulation and subsidies are a huge part of the business model. |
| 0:22.9 | We hear from Florida and why some of its voters are feeling bitter about the sugar industry. |
| 0:28.4 | That's all here in Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 0:33.4 | Yeah, look, I mean, you know, Adam is basically the errand boy for U.S. sugar. |
| 0:38.4 | I mean, he is going to stand with them. |
| 0:41.9 | That's the recently elected governor of the U.S. state of Florida, |
| 0:45.8 | speaking during his election campaign last year. |
| 0:48.7 | They've pumped millions of dollars directly and indirectly into his campaign. |
| 0:53.0 | They've spent five plus million attacking me |
| 0:55.3 | with fake news. He's a Republican called Ron DeSantis, speaking on local WJXT TV. Clearly, he's no |
| 1:03.2 | fan of the sugar industry. But sugar is a big deal in Florida. The state accounts for more than |
| 1:09.5 | 20% of America's sugar production. Yet it was |
| 1:13.4 | Mr. DeSantis's position as the anti-sugar candidate that helped him win the vote there. Why? Well, |
| 1:20.3 | it's all down to the Sunshine State's greatest natural asset, the Everglades, as Jilda de Kali reports. |
| 1:28.6 | Only 20 miles from Miami's glass-paned Tower Metropolis, |
| 1:33.6 | the Everglades unveils its expanse of sawgrass and stillness. |
| 1:42.2 | All the way to that point where that transformation occurs, that marks the westernmost extent of the Biscayne Aquifer. |
| 1:49.5 | Steve Davis, senior ecologist from the Everglades Foundation, guides the boat tour. |
| 1:54.8 | He says the water in the Everglades isn't just critical for the wildlife here. |
| 1:58.6 | So for the nearly 7 million people that live along the |
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