News

The Netherlands will raise the tax on most vegetable drinks by nearly 200% when equating them with soft drinks

Soft Drink
Netherlands
Published Apr 20, 2023

Tridge summary

Vegetable drinks face a new case of political risk in the Netherlands. The news stems from the announcement by the country's government to increase the consumption tax on soft drinks by 196% as of 2024, which would go from 9 to 26 cents per liter, and has a full impact on the vegetable drinks sector because the The bulk of this category is classified as soft drinks in the Netherlands.

Original content

Only the soybean and pea references escape this categorization, based on the argument that the protein content in these varieties is comparable to that of cow's milk. Thus, the references to oats, the majority in the market, almonds, rice or coconut, among others, will see their tax burden increased, while cow's milk, its natural competitor in the market, continues to be exempt, since it is considered healthy, and a "basic need". Given the controversy unleashed by this measure, the Dutch government argues that milk alternatives have not been sufficiently investigated to determine their impact on health, since they contain "other ingredients", concluding that the problem of this type of products could be their low protein content. Beyond these explanations collected by different local media, the Dutch Ministry of Health has declared that it is again analyzing the categories affected by this measure, to see if it is necessary to make changes, stating that the starting point is ...
Source: Alimarket
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