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How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

middleeastmonitor.com

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Re: How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

#21

Post by 0xbadcafebee »

If you don't want your corporation's supply chain at risk, maybe use your lobbying dollars to ask the executive branch to actually support foreign nations rather than let them fall into civil war.

Sudan has had a military dictatorship from 1989-2019 (led by Omar al-Bashir).

In 2017, both President Obama and President Trump lifted sanctions on Sudan, after al-Bashir reneged on a promise to step down just two years earlier.

In 2018/2019, price hikes resulted in massive protests and a subsequent revolution against al-Bashir. This finally resolved in 2019, when a joint military-civilian political agreement, constitution, and council were formed. At that point, lots of aid was needed in order to rebuild and stabilize the country, but as usual, actually getting that money was difficult. The bulk of it came from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

In 2021, there were two more coups.

In 2023, a new civil war broke out between the military dictatorship and a paramilitary branch of it. That war is still persisting. War crimes are rampant, mass-murder and genocide persist, almost the entire country cannot afford food. The main backer of the paramilitary group preventing the conflict from ending is the UAE.

Re: How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

#22

Post by kiritanpo »

jmkd wrote: post #5

80% of the world's supply comes from Sudan...that is certainly a surprise. I'd love to see a table of some of the world's most essential goods that have 80% or more reliance on a single market.

The essentiality of the product is debatable, but ~80% of maple syrup production comes from Canada, 91% of that from the province of Quebec.

China produces ~80% of the world's magnesium. Cobalt comes mostly from Congo.

In the 40-50% range, there is Kazakhstan with uranium and Australia with lithium.

You can explore more here: https://worldpopulationreview.com/search?query=production&fi...

Re: How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

#23

Post by Havoc »

jmkd wrote: post #5

80% of the world's supply comes from Sudan...that is certainly a surprise. I'd love to see a table of some of the world's most essential goods that have 80% or more reliance on a single market.

Yeah there are a couple of resource concentrations in Africa that aren’t immediately obvious.

Platinum group metals, phosphorus, manganese, cobalt etc all pretty Africa heavy usually one or two countries

Re: How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

#24

Post by zdragnar »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #21

If you don't want your corporation's supply chain at risk, maybe use your lobbying dollars to ask the executive branch to actually support foreign nations rather than let them fall into civil war. Sudan has had a military dictatorship from 1989-2019 (led by Omar al-Bashir). In 2017, both President Obama and President Trump lifted sanctions on Sudan, after al-Bashir reneged on a promise to step down just two years ear…

What do you think the executive branch of the USA could have done to prevent any of this instability? al-Burhan hardly seems better than al-Bashir.

Re: How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

#25

Post by sudahtigabulan »

xyst wrote: post #17
oersted wrote: post #9

And yet Gum Arabic is extremely cheap for the amounts needed. At $4-$7 per Kg in the US, the cost per Coke can would be in the order of 0.025 cents (guesstimate). This is interesting considering that 80% of the supply comes from Sudan. It is a nearly universal ingredient in processed foods and professional kitchens. I wonder how the economics work to push the price down. EDIT: Apparently naturally abundant Acacia tre…

Time to start up a business as a “conflict free” gum arabic supplier. Maybe they will make a movie about it: Lord of Gum

It's not "lord of gum", it's "gumlord".

Re: How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

#26

Post by InitialLastName »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #21

If you don't want your corporation's supply chain at risk, maybe use your lobbying dollars to ask the executive branch to actually support foreign nations rather than let them fall into civil war. Sudan has had a military dictatorship from 1989-2019 (led by Omar al-Bashir). In 2017, both President Obama and President Trump lifted sanctions on Sudan, after al-Bashir reneged on a promise to step down just two years ear…

That may be learning the wrong lesson. US corporations have used "securing supply chains" to justify encouraging the US government to incite a whole lot of strife and conflict around the world in the last century-and-a-bit.

Re: How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

#27

Post by LordShredda »

card_zero wrote: post #4
latexr wrote: post #2

The “key ingredient” is “gum arabic”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gum_arabic

Unexpectedly, this additive has an extensive "health benefits" section.

This seems to be a thing with a lot of wikipedia articles on various foods, especially in other languages.

Re: How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

#28

Post by deadbabe »

sudahtigabulan wrote: post #25
xyst wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time to start up a business as a “conflict free” gum arabic supplier. Maybe they will make a movie about it: Lord of Gum

It's not "lord of gum", it's "gumlord".

I like his way better

Re: How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

#29

Post by the-chitmonger »

xyst wrote: post #17
oersted wrote: post #9

And yet Gum Arabic is extremely cheap for the amounts needed. At $4-$7 per Kg in the US, the cost per Coke can would be in the order of 0.025 cents (guesstimate). This is interesting considering that 80% of the supply comes from Sudan. It is a nearly universal ingredient in processed foods and professional kitchens. I wonder how the economics work to push the price down. EDIT: Apparently naturally abundant Acacia tre…

Time to start up a business as a “conflict free” gum arabic supplier. Maybe they will make a movie about it: Lord of Gum

How about Gumdog Millionaire?

Re: How a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's is smuggled from war-torn Sudan

#30

Post by staplung »

jmkd wrote: post #5

80% of the world's supply comes from Sudan...that is certainly a surprise. I'd love to see a table of some of the world's most essential goods that have 80% or more reliance on a single market.

~70% of the world's phosphate reserves are in Morocco. Considering how important phosphates are to the entire planet's food security I'd rate it near the top of the list. Practically speaking, phosphates are a non-renewable resource.
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