When the earthquake hit in the Indian Ocean, just off the North western coast of Sumatra on the morning of December 26, reports slowly filtered in of the havoc and destruction it had caused in countries across the region. Hardest hit were Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Currently some 150,000 dead have now been reported, with many more still unaccounted for and others still succumbing from disease and injury.
The immediate impact to the operation of food and beverage companies in the region has been slight so far. Much of the earthquake damage and subsequent tidal waves hit hardest in areas where industrial activity is low. Undoubtedly the hardest hit has been the tourist industry, with thousands of miles of beach resorts razed to the ground.
However, with food and clean drink supplies running low in many of the more isolated regions, food and beverage companies, both in the region and worldwide, have been lending a helping hand in an effort to bring aid.
Global beverage giant Coca-Cola, often maligned by the press, was one of the first companies to make an offer of supplying fresh drinking water to victims.
"We and the bottlers are helping with the relief efforts" Coca-Cola's spokesman Dan Schafer told the press. He added that the company has been co-ordinating a relief programme in conjunction with charities and relief agencies currently operating in stricken areas.
A host of other companies making cash donations towards relief have included brewing giant Fosters, which donated AU$1 million towards the cause.
Asian-based companies have also been involved with relief operations, with Malaysian water companies Eau Claire and Spritzer both send significant quantities of bottled water out to hardest hit areas in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Although it will still take months for the emergency relief work to finish up, the longer term rebuilding will inevitably take years. For food and beverage companies operating in the region, analysts believe that, although aid has been rapid and generous, the economies of the worst affected countries will be ravaged by the effects of the earth quake, making it an inauspicious start to the year for all concerned.
