2024-04-06 13:19:42
Which bottling plants pay the “marketing fee” and which do not. What Coca-Cola answers for our survey
After the soft drink sector, the “democracy” investigation, which began to be published last Tuesday, turned to the water bottling sector, in order to investigate whether the companies respectively have a “drinking water marketing license” and whether they pay the relevant rights to the municipalities. . And the truth is that this sector shows greater compliance with the law and settles the obligations arising from it on a larger scale.
- By Maria Panagiotou
We remind you that, according to the legislation, this license is granted to the industries that bottle water and/or produce juices and soft drinks from the municipality in which their production unit is located, regardless of what the source of water supply is (well, water supply company, source etc.) and from whether this source belongs to the municipality. Simply, if it belongs to the municipality, it is given the right to determine the amount of the right on sales. Otherwise, the rights are determined specifically for water from 3 to 5 per cent of the companies’ sales. However, they are attributed again to the municipality.
In the past few days, we revealed that the company that is “dragging” the dance in the missing profits in the soft drinks sector is the multinational giant Coca-Cola, which controls over 60% of the market. Also, it was not possible to discover a marketing license for the Olympic Brewery, which sells soft drinks in addition to beers, nor an arrangement of rights. The exact same thing happened with the Greek company IBIS AE, which produces the Frutop soft drink.
In fact, just yesterday, the second day of publication of our research, we finally received some answers from Coca-Cola, which completely confirmed our report, since the company does not pay royalties, as it should, to the Municipality of Tanagra, where it has a huge soft drink production plant . These rights together with the fines can now reach several million euros.
Coca-Cola’s answer
Regarding the issue, Coca-Cola responded: “Regarding the Schimatari factory, to which special mention is made, the water supplied by EYDAP is not ready-to-use drinking water, as referred to in the specific legislation, and therefore not falls under the relevant provisions. This is water that, after we procure it from EYDAP, is then subjected, within our facility, to multiple stages of refining and processing, in order to ensure the high safety and quality requirements we maintain for our products.”
Of course, the legislation applies to all soft drink industries, regardless of the water extraction source, since it is a water “marketing” fee. And of course EYDAP is potable, regardless of whether it needs to be processed by industry, as it is needed to create table water. And other companies that take, for example, water from other networks or drilling need to process it in order to then make impurities and create soft drinks. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t pay “trade” royalties. And most of them… pay.
The companies for which we found data
• In addition to soft drinks, the Coca-Cola Tria Epsilon company also provided answers for AVRA water, which it bottles. He stated that he has the relevant license for the specific product and the “fees are paid quarterly to the Municipality of Aegialia”. However, we did not receive any response from the Municipality of Aegialia.
• From the company CHITOS SA, which bottles Zagori water, we did not receive any answers to the questions we sent, despite the fact that we spoke by phone with its Communication Manager. The general secretary of the Municipality of Ioannito, however, informed us via telephone that the company has a license and pays the rights corresponding to its sales.
• We also received a response from the company MENTEKIDIS S.A., which bottles Dios water, in which it stated: “We inform you that our company has all the licenses required for its operation, observing all that is stipulated by the legislation.” The Municipality of Dion-Olympus, where the water of MENTEKIDIS SA is bottled, confirmed what the company reported.
• At the same time, the THEONI company, which has the product of the same name, responded to our request, replying that “our company requested and received a marketing license from the relevant Municipal Council of the Municipality of Mouzaki, Karditsa Prefecture, in accordance with the provisions of par. 1 of the above art. 12. According to this, it is not necessary for us to submit new applications for the granting of a trading license, since the trading license already granted by the relevant Municipality of Mouzaki is valid in this case for a period of time equal to the Environmental Approval Decision No. 213723/13.10.2021 Oron (AEPO), lasting 15 years”. But also how he pays the relevant rights “in full, as defined by law”. The Municipality of Mouzaki, on the other hand, informed us that the company has a license, but they are in dispute over the amount of the relevant right. THEONI’s water intake source is the Goura spring, which belongs to the municipality, so the municipal authority can determine the amount of the rights.
• We also received information about the company NATURA EMFIALOTIKI SA, which is located in the Municipality of Sikyonia. The company answered us that it has a license and assigns the rights, a fact that was confirmed by the municipality.
• Although we did not receive answers from the company NERA KRITIS ABEE, we were able to confirm from the Municipality of Chania that it has a license and from the Revenue Directorate that the rights are paid.
• For Epirotiki Viominia Emfialosis S.A., which bottles Vikos water, we received a response both from the company and from the Municipalities of Pogoni and Ioannito. The company stated that it has a marketing license from both municipalities and that it “pays fees”. The company’s information was confirmed by the mayor of Pogoni, Konstantinos Kapsalis, in a telephone conversation we had with him, as well as by the general secretary of the Municipality of Ioannito.
• We must also point out that the company NESTLE HELLAS MONOPROSSOPI SA, which bottles Korpi water, also has a marketing license. According to the information we have, the license was renewed last March.
The company for which we found no information
The company Agrifreda ABEE, which bottles Drosia water, did not answer our questions, nor did the Municipality of Edessa, to whom we also sent them in writing, and, as they informed us, they took a protocol number. More details are likely to be revealed after publication. We await with interest the developments as a whole, as the issue, whether it concerns water or soft drinks, also raises criminal responsibilities based on the law.
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