Venezuelan bottlers will stop producing Coca Cola due to a lack of sugar, the company announced Monday.
"Sugar suppliers in Venezuela have informed us that they will temporarily cease operations due to a lack of raw materials," Coca-Cola Co spokeswoman Kerry Tressler said.
Production of Diet Coke, Coke Zero, and other sugarless beverages will continue in Venezuela, the company added.
Rising production costs, price controls, and limited access to necessary fertilizers has lead to a recent decline in sugarcane production in Venezuela. The effects of food shortages are being felt across the country amid its recession. A barley shortage has already forced the country's biggest brewer, Empresas Polar, to close its plants.
The economic crisis in Venezuela, which came as the result of falling oil prices and decades of financial mismanagement, culminated last week, with President Nicolas Maduro announcing a 60-day state of emergency.
The International Monetary Fund predicts that inflation in Venezuela, which is already the world’s highest, could more than double in 2016, topping out at more than 720 percent.
