A dispute in southern Uruguay could see Coke vanish from the shelves. Coca-Cola's bottler, Montevideo Refrescos (MR), yesterday threatened to halt production of the soft-drink.
Distributors have demanded a larger slice of profits and have stopped delivery of Coke. The dispute comes at the beginning of the region's busy summer season. Both the country's capital and Punta del Este resort are located in the affected region.
Agence France Presse quoted MR chief Andres Coleman as saying: "If we do not have a distribution network, we are going to have to stop the production process. The distributor companies refuse to comply with the contract they have with Montevideo Refrescos, which was renewed three months ago."
The beverage distributor's federation has said that MR is requiring distributors to visit more clients for the same payout.
Sectors: Soft drinks
