Lockdown affects firm

By DALE LUMA
THE state of emergency (SOE) and lockdown has had an impact on beverage manufacturer, Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA), in terms of its sales.
This was a result of a big part of trade being closed, according to the company.
Responding to questions from The National, general manager Philippe Mondada said most restaurants and small retail shops were closed which resulted in lower sales than usual over the first four weeks.
“Obviously, a lot of outlets and a big part of the trade was closed and I guess only the modern trade and supermarkets was open,” Mondada said.
“The markets were closed, little shops were closed, and restaurants had been closed for a while in many places so obviously that had an impact on sales.
“We had lower sales than usual, we had sales and we were selling every day but I would say it had been three or four weeks that we had lower than usual sales.”
Mondada said public transport was one of the biggest hindrances with less movement and less activity which definitely had an impact on CCA’s business.
He said that now that the SOE restrictions had been relaxed in most of the country, business was getting better and, hopefully, that continued.
The company remains optimistic about its business going through the year, according to Mondada.
“We are optimistic and we believe that we are resilient and finally we will recover,” he said.
“How much time that will take, nobody knows but we have plans in place to keep on working and have developed special plans on the supply chains of our product.”
Mondada said the continual relaxation of restrictions would determine recovery of the economy and businesses.