18 December 1997: In a recent press briefing, Pepsi Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) officials charged their competitor, Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc. (CCBPI), of engaging in illegal trade…
18 December 1997: In a recent press briefing, Pepsi Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) officials charged their competitor, Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc. (CCBPI), of engaging in illegal trade practices by destroying empty Pepsi bottles in various areas nation-wide. Interestingly, the new bottle war involves people who used to work for their competitors. The majority of the top executives of Pepsi Cola Products Philippines, Inc.“s (PCPPI) new management came from either SMC or CCBPI. SMC sold CCBPI to Australia“s Coca-Cola Amatil, but still has a stake in the company. Antonio V. Concepcion, PCPPI senior vice-president and chief marketing officer, claimed the bottle-smashing cost the firm some Pesos 25 million in lost opportunities and delayed production due to destroyed bottles. He said PCPPI reuses its bottles five to ten times in a month, and are retired only when they reach the 60th retrieval stage. Ironically, Mr. Concepcion himself used to work for his rival SMC subsidiary La Tondena Distillers, Inc. He talked about two incidents that recently occurred; one in Dagohoy, Bohol and the other in Oroquieta, Mindanao, where destroyed Pepsi bottles were discovered in the possession of CCBPI salesmen. The Bohol incident involved the alleged smashing of 10 Pepsi bottles with contents and 14 empty bottles by CCBPI salesmen. PCPPI has already filed a criminal case against the concerned CCBPI salesmen in Bohol. The Oroquieta incident, meanwhile, involved the discovery of 40 sacks of broken Pepsi Cola and Mirinda bottles loaded on a CCBPI delivery truck. PCPPI officials said CCBPI, which claims a 75% market share, is bitter about a PCPPI marketing strategy which gave the latter a 20% market share as of October. “PCPPI, now run by former Coke and San Miguel executives, must have become infuriated with their former employers for having taken the challenge of turning around Pepsi and in the process gaining on Coke“s market share,” PCPPI said in a statement. CCBPI said “We categorically deny that we destroyed (Pepsi) bottles in Bohol. Since a civil suit has already been filed by Pepsi regarding this incident, let Pepsi prove its case. As far as the Oroquieta incident is concerned, it is now the subject of a thorough investigation.” The two firms both claim to have standing policies against retrieving and destroying empty bottles of their competitors. However, both parties also admit that segregating bottles is difficult. There is no formal swapping arrangement between the two firms. -jp