Saturday, October 04, 2008 Choco firm loses P30M to melamine
A LOCAL distributor of the Snickers chocolate bars said the company has lost P30 million in revenues since the milk scare surfaced in the country two weeks ago.
Henry Azcarraga, country head of MARS Inc., said they recorded a decrease in sales due to the discovery of the melamine substance in milk, dairy, and chocolate products from China.
"We've lost P30 million in revenues since the melamine scare started," he told reporters during the inspection of the firm's shipment conducted by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Friday morning at Manila Port.
He also said the decline in revenue is the biggest crisis they confronted since the company started importing chocolates in the Philippines in 1985.
However, Azcarraga is optimistic the present "crisis" is just temporary and they will be able to recover in time.
"This is just a minor setback because of the melamine scare, but I am sure we will be overcome this," he added.
For his part, Jarius Paguntalan, director of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), said they have taken samples of the chocolate bars to be submitted for testing to the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD).
He said they will immediately release the shipment worth P5 million as soon as BFAD releases its findings that the chocolate bars are negative of melamine.
Azcarraga also reported that chocolates being distributed by their firm have been cleared by the government of Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, and Malaysia.
Aside from Snickers, MARS Inc. is the local distributor of m&ms and dove chocolates.
The Philippine government barred the entry of China-made milk products after baby formula tainted with melamine triggered a food safety crisis that has left at least four infants dead and more than 50,000 children ill in the said country.
Melamine, a chemical used in making plastics, can make milk and other food products appear to have a higher protein count than they actually do. (FP/Sunnex)
