Price of Coke up, without prior approval

Price of Coke up, without prior approval

The government has accepted the unapproved increase in the price of a 240cc glass bottle of Coca-Cola, which is subject to price control, from 10 to 12 baht, without even issuing a warning to the bottler, a source at the Commerce Ministry said.

The ministry earlier said it had not given approval for any soft drink bottling firm to raise prices.

Soft drinks are one of the 205 products subject to price control.  Bottlers are required to submit a request to the ministry at least 15 days in advance if they want a price increase. The decision rests with the Internal Trade Department, according to reports by Thai media.

The source said ThaiNamthip Ltd, the authorised bottler of Coca-Cola, had raised the price of the 240cc glass bottle of the soft drink in early October.  A package of 12 glass bottles was priced at 123.36 baht, or 10.28 baht a bottle. Retailers were advised to sell it at 12 baht a bottle. The price of a 250cc can of Coke went  up to 12 baht.

A major retailer was selling a pack of 24 glass bottles at 257 baht,  around 10.71 baht each, on its website on Tuesday.

The source said of the three major soft-drink bottlers, only the bottler of Pepsi-Cola had said it had not raised the prices of its products, while the other two remained silent.

Jaronchai Salayapong, public relations director of Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading Co, said the company did not sell the soft drink in glass bottles, so there was no price increase in this category. The company had also not raised the price of its canned products.

When Bangkok Post Online contacted ThaiNamThip the person who answered the phone said the only  person authorised to speak to the media was abroad and would return around the end of this week.

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