The Grenada Bottling Co. Ltd, producers of Cocoa Cola, is planning to approach the Dickon Mitchell-led Congress government to address the stiff competition for its product on the sister isle of Carriacou.

An informed source told THE NEW TODAY that the company is planning to write the Comptroller of Customs as coca cola from Trinidad & Tobago is coming into the island without duties being paid and creating problems for the local business on the sister isle.

He said that the local bottling Company is experiencing difficulties in selling its coca cola drink on the sister isle as it cannot compete with the price offered for the imported product from the twin island republic.

”The coke is coming through Grenada and Customs is turning a blind eye on it and they (are) going up and selling it in Carriacou without paying a cent on the correct duties on its importation from Trinidad,” he added.

“If the coke and the soft drinks come from Trinidad, there’s no way if you pay duties it could sell cheaper than the coke produced in Grenada,” he said.

The insider at the Bottling Company went on to say: “It is just simple – if you buy the coke in Trinidad and you pay the correct duties, there is no way you can sell it cheaper than coca cola in Grenada. This is a major problem now (for) Coca Cola.”

According to the knowledgeable source, officials of the local Bottling Company have met and discussed the issue and took the decision to seek an urgent meeting with the Customs Department to raise their concerns on the unfair competition.

He said it is not the traffickers but the boat owners who ply the Grenada/Trinidad route who are the ones mainly responsible for bringing in the Coke from Trinidad into the country.

“The boat owners bring it massively into Carriacou – it is the boat owners,” he told THE NEW TODAY.

He also accused the Customs officers on the Caricom Wharf at the St George’s Pier “of playing the fool” on the importation of the coca cola product from Trinidad.

“The (Customs) Officer in Carriacou is even worse (to allow the product into the sister isle) … so Coke is getting real licks in Carriacou,” he said.

Several years ago, Carriacou had built up a reputation for smuggling goods into the small island and evading the payment of Customs Duties.