The Venezuelan bottler of Coca-Cola has halted production of the sugar-sweetened beverage due to a lack of sugar, a Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) spokeswoman said on Monday. "Sugar suppliers in Venezuela have informed us that they will temporarily cease operations due to a lack of raw materials," Tressler added. Coca-Cola Femsa SAB (KOFL.MX), Latin America's biggest coke bottler and operator of four plants in Venezuela, added that it was hoping the nation's sugar inventories would recover "in the short term." The bottler, which gets some 7 percent of its income in Venezuela, is a joint venture between Coca-Cola and Mexico's Femsa (FMSAUBD.MX). 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 wrote by email.

Source: Daily Nation May 23, 2016 16:56 UTC