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 trees produce it with barely any oversight and it is easy to harvest in large quantities compared to how much volume is needed in end-products. I suppose if Sudan tried to squeeze their monopoly other suppliers would easily come up in other regions. The reason for the monopoly must simply be a combination of a favorable environment and the fact that they are willing to do it very cheaply because unfortunately they don’t have many other options to sustain themselves.