SUGAR Regulatory Administration (SRA) head Hermenegildo Serafica said on Thursdasy, October 25, they are hoping to meet the high demand for domestic sugar of Coca-Cola Philippines this year.
"The sugar industry is lucky now since January 1, 2018, because Coca-Cola has not been using high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and that they are all using the domestic sugar. They are using all domestic sugar which is more beneficial to the sugar industry," Serafica said.
He said the problem was the drop in the production last year because of the greater demand of the company. "But we are addressing these issues and challenges because we need to take care of Coke because they are the biggest customer of the sugar industry," he added.
Coca-Coca consumes 100,000 bags of sugar per week.
He pointed out the situation was addressed through the importation of 200,000 metric tons to satisfy the drop of our shortfall.
For this year, Serafica said, they are still evaluating the situation, as milling operations have not started in other sugar producing provinces like in Iloilo, Negros Oriental and in Luzon unlike in the province.
“We will see, it's too early to tell. We will assess and make adjustments," Serafica said.
The reason why Coca-Cola stopped using HFCS was due to the high excise tax imposed under the Tax Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law which has become costly for them if they continue to use HFCS.
There are still other food processors using HFCS because they want to maintain the taste and the blend of their products but beverage companies have already stopped using it since January 1 this year, Serafica said.
He also admitted that Under Executive Order 13, sugar importation cannot be stopped and in fact, 150,000 metric tons of imported sugar has arrived in the country on October 8.