Will Singaporeans go Thirsty, after Coca-Cola Shuts Down its Tuas Bottling Plant?
After the sale of its 9 bottling plants in the USA to the independent bottlers and the closure of its bottling plant in Moldova, Coca-Cola has announced the closure of its bottling plant in Singapore.
The move is aimed at creating new supply lines and cost reduction. It is a part of the long-term plan started in 2013. The company kick-started the initiative by getting rid of assets like delivery trucks, warehouses in the USA and bottling plants abroad.
The beverages giant, however, is not planning to leave Singapore. Over the next five years, it has planned to invest more than US$100 in Singapore in the high-value services like new technologies, innovation, and research.
The closure of Coca-Cola Singapore Beverages (CCSB) is going to affect 200 of its employees. It is working hand-in-hand with Employment and Employability Institute and the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) to work out competitive severance packages and smooth transition into new jobs.
Of course, the company is making sure that the Singaporeans would not go thirsty, because of the move. It is moving the production to Malaysia, and, intends to secure the required supply by means of importing it.
CCSB is retaining as many as 450 employees to serve the current product portfolio to its Singaporean consumers. Its sizeable sales and marketing force, and warehousing, distribution, procurement, finance/administration, legal, human resources, and IT functions will keep on extending their support.
“CCSB was committed to this and has been open to the union’s requests and suggestions. The company has fulfilled the terms of retrenchment beyond industry norms,” said Tan Hock Soon, general secretary of FDAWU.
