Major soft drink producer, Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc., (CCBPI) has expressed its support to the government’s move to address the shortage of premium refined sugar in the Philippines.
The soft drink industry requires at least 450,000 metric tons of premium refined bottler grade sugar to serve the orders of their customers. However, a major supply shortage has affected the domestic soft drink industry production. CCBPI clarified that not all sugar is the same as food and beverage manufacturers need premium refined sugar to maintain high-quality products. This type of sugar is not the same as those sugar commonly used by households.
Currently, there is approximately a 400,000 metric ton gap on top of a starting gap of 200,000 metric tons of the local sugar supply for 2022. This is based on a projected demand of 2.3 million metric tons for 2022 for the entire country.
Industry players like CCBPI are looking forward to work closely with the current President Marcos who is also the Department of Agriculture (DA) Chief and Chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), as well as all relevant government offices to address the situation and deliver a sustainable solution so that players can get back to full capacity production amidst rising demand from both customers and consumers in the country.
