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By Jessica DiNapoli
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bottling companies of PepsiCo and Coca-Cola in the occupied West Bank are facing a shortage of cans and sugar due to the long-term closure of a border crossing with Jordan, according to officials at two soft drink bottling companies.
In the latest crisis in global supply chains due to the conflict in the Middle East, a vital commercial crossing at the King Hussein Bridge has been largely closed to trade since early September after a Jordanian gunman shot and killed three Israeli civilians.
Hatem Al-Omari, director of a factory that bottles Pepsi, 7-Up and Mirinda products for sale in the Palestinian territories and neighboring countries, said that sugar and cans were previously transported to bottling factories in the West Bank from Jordan via the bridge.
Al-Omari added that the Pepsi factory located in Jericho ran out of the materials needed to manufacture canned soft drinks about 15 days ago, and the factory has not been able to obtain new shipments of cans or sugar for more than a month. He added that the sugar used by the factory comes from Saudi Arabia.
Imad al-Hindi, General Manager of the National Beverage Company, said that one of the Coca-Cola bottling companies in Ramallah suffers from a shortage of some soft drink flavors and does not receive the usual supplies of sugar and cans.
Al-Hindi said in a message via WhatsApp, “If the situation continues like this, most workers in the private sector, including us, will reach a dead end.”
Pepsi did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Coca-Cola declined to comment.
The packaging companies are separate entities, but sometimes both US-based companies have stakes in them.