Coke, Pepsi, Nestle ready to bring in imported sugar to boost operations

Coca-Cola Philippines (Coke), Pepsi Cola Products Philippines, Inc. (PCPPI), Nestle Philippines, Inc. are just some of the manufacturing companies that have been authorized to directly import sugar.

And based on a data from Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), these companies are now ready to bring in the additional supply to the country for their own use.

It was just early this month when SRA formally order the importation of 150,000 MT of sugar, also allowing end-users or sugar-using industries to directly import sugar for the first time ever.

This was amid pressure for the government to help address the declining profits of some of the country’s largest industrial companies who were directly hit by the tax imposed on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law. Once without taxes, SSBs have been slapped a tax rate of 16 per liter while drinks with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) are taxed 112 per liter.

Since then, Coke and other companies have always been vocal of their desire to directly import sugar even if the previous import policies don’t allow it.

As of October 24, out of the 150,000 MT of sugar local traders and manufacturers have been authorized to import, 149,950 MT has already been taken up, which means the importation is already 99.97 percent complete.

Of the 17 firms that were allowed to join this particular importation, four manufacturing firms were able to make it to the list namely Coke, PCPPI, Nestle, and Interbev. Coke ordered 8,250 MT, while PCPPI purchased 12,200 MT. Nestle, on the other hand, will import 4,625 MT.

This would be the second time the Philippines is importing sugar this year and would be the first time the country is importing at the start of a sugar crop year, which stretches from September to August of the following year.

All the 200,000 MT of sugar from the last importation, which was announced in June, already entered the country and is now being distributed.

John Milton Lozande, secretary general of National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW), said the entry of more imported sugar will negatively affect the lives of 780,000 sugar workers in the Philippines.

This, since it could lower the prices of local sugar, effectively pulling down the wages of sugar workers.

At present, sugar workers in Negros only earn an average monthly income of 11,500 to 12,000 per month, which translates to just 130 to 167 per day. Sugar workers in Cagayan Valley, on the other hand, earn only an average of 1170 a day.