Coke’s GM talks about what can and should be done

Research Institute (DOST-FNRI). NutriJuice is a product of DOST-FNRI and Coca-Cola’s collaboration to come up with a nutritious drink that would help eradicate iron deficiency anemia among young children in less privileged areas.

The orange-flavored juice drink is fortified with iron, zinc, lysine, and Vitamins A and C.

“We choose an area and supply them with NutriJuice every day for six months,” Aponte says.

Aponte shares that in 2009, they expanded to serve 30,000 children nationwide, taking advantage of the company’s distribution network in Bukidnon, Davao City, Marikina City, Palawan, Pasig City, Quirino, Tacloban City, Taguig City and Zambales.

In 2008, NutriJuice was given to 5,000 students in 19 schools in Quirino province and another 1,500 in Quezon City.

“Typically, we provide NutriJuice to 30,000 to 35,000 kids every year,” he says. “This year, we decided to help 100,000 kids.”

Far-flung communities

For the Agos Ram Pump Water Project, Aponte says that the company wants to tap what he calls “ancient” technology to pump up large volume of water to upland communities where clean water is scarce. The ram pump can run automatically for 24 hours a day, has a zero carbon foot print, and can be fully operational in 6 weeks. Ram pump systems are capable of providing 100,000 liters of water per day to communities given that there are ample sources of water from the lowlands.

“This project uses the natural kinetic energy contained in freeflowing water and bring them to upland areas,” he explains.

The project was launched only in November last year after Coca-Cola partnered with nongovernmental agencies Earth Day Network and Ramon Magsaysay Foundation awardee Alternative Indigenous Foundation.

The company also had almost similar projects in the past such as harvesting rain. “We believe that this (ram pump) is the project for us,” he says.

Women entrepreneurs

Aponte says that Filipino women are the driving forces behind the Coca-Cola business. He notes that most sari-sari store owners are women. As part of Coca-Cola worldwide efforts in “economically empowering five million women” all over the globe, the Philippine company piloted the Coca-Cola National Convergence Program on Empowering Grassroots Women Entrepreneurs in Palawan last year.

“The global company is looking at empowering 100,000 women in the world by 2020,” Aponte says.

According to Maquilan, the company chose the southernmost part of the island to arm the women with skills on entrepreneurship. Again, CocaCola forged a partnership with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), local government units, micro-finance institutions, and non-government organizations, to conduct seminars and workshops on business management, operational training, and financial planning to women entrepreneurs across the Philippines.

“We are pleasantly surprised at the number of women (300 in 10 cluster sites) who participated in the pilot program,” Maquilan says. “We had to admit sari-sari store owners who don’t carry our products yet.”

This year, the program hopes to impact 10,000 women business owners.

“This is a country where women play a very important role,” Aponte says, “and the company feels that we can do something to further empower them with this program.”

Coca-Cola operates in 200 countries and records a rate of 1.8 billion servings a day of its sparkling beverages, ready-todrink coffees and juice drinks.