Loading ...No Coke, no Pepsi: Bottlers leave southern Mexican city besieged by crime
Mexicans are among the biggest soda drinkers in the world, so residents of the city of Altamirano in southern Mexico were hit hard when first Coca-Cola then Pepsi closed their distribution centers there amid drug gang extortion demands.
To paraphrase an old “Saturday Night Live” routine, it’s “No Coke, no Pepsi” for the city in the steamy state of Guerrero.
“Soft drinks form a part of our diet, people drink them in their homes, so imagine when the two main distributors in the whole region practically leave,” Guerrero security spokesman Roberto Alvarez said Wednesday. “It’s huge.”
PepsiCo Mexico said in a statement: “Our bottler Grupo Gepp made the difficult decision to suspend their operations in Ciudad Altamirano because the necessary conditions to distribute its products did not exist. PepsiCo respects the decision.”
cont. http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-mexico-gang-violence-soda-20180614-story.html