"Sudan conflict threatens supply of key soft drink ingredient gum Arabic" , 28 April 2023

Sudan's eruption into conflict has left international consumer goods makers racing to shore up supplies of gum arabic, one of the country's most sought-after products and a key ingredient in everything from fizzy drinks to candy and cosmetics...Wary of Sudan's persistent insecurity, companies dependent on the product, such as Coca Cola and Pepsico, have long stockpiled supplies, some keeping between three-to-six-months worth to avoid being caught short, exporters and industry sources told Reuters...

"Depending on how long the conflict continues there may well be ramifications for finished goods on the shelf - branded goods made by household names," said Richard Finnegan, a procurement manager at Kerry Group, a supplier of gum arabic to most major food and beverage firms...Cloetta AB, a Swedish confectioner which makes Lakerol lozenges that use gum arabic, has "ample" stock of the ingredient, a spokesperson said in an email...Right now it’s "impossible” to source additional gum arabic from rural parts of Sudan because of the turmoil and road blockages, said Mohamad Alnoor, who runs Gum Arabic USA, which sells the product to consumers as a health supplement...

Kerry Group and other suppliers, including Sweden's Gum Sudan, said communicating with contacts on the ground has been difficult and Port Sudan - from where product is shipped - has been prioritising civilian evacuations...“Our suppliers are struggling to secure necessities because of the conflict," Jinesh Doshi, managing director of Vijay Bros, an importer based in Mumbai, said. "Both buyers and sellers are clueless on when things will normalise.”...Alwaleed Ali, who owns AGP Innovations Co Ltd, a gum arabic exporting business, said his customers are looking for alternative countries to source gum arabic...He said he sells the gum to Nexira SAS, based in Rouen, France, and Westchester, Illinois-based Ingredion Inc, two major ingredients suppliers to makers of products such as pet food, fizzy drinks and nutrition bars...PepsiCo declined to comment on supply chain and commodity issues, while Coca-Cola did not return a request for comment..."For companies like Pepsi and Coke, they can't exist without having gum arabic in their formulations," Dani Haddad, marketing and development director of Agrigum, a global top-ten supplier, said...
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