The Venezuelan bottler of Coca-Cola has halted production of sugar-sweetened beverage because of a lack of sugar, a Coca-Cola spokeswoman said.
Venezuela is in the midst of a deep recession, and spontaneous demonstrations and looting have become more common amid worsening food shortages, frequent power cuts and the world’s highest inflation.
Production of sugar-sweetened drinks has stopped, but output of diet drinks such as Coca-Cola light and other zero-sugar beverages continued, spokeswoman Kerry Tressler said.
The local bottler, Coca-Cola Femsa SAB, said “Sugar suppliers in Venezuela have informed us that they will temporarily cease operations due to a lack of raw materials.”
