300 beverage companies call for: No sugar tax on beverages
Five industry associations are warning of price increases and questioning the effectiveness of the planned tax in terms of public health policy.
More than 300 companies in the German beverage industry have spoken out in a joint open letter against the introduction of a sugar tax or levy on beverages planned by the federal government and the Bundestag. In doing so, the companies are supporting the position of the Non-Alcoholic Beverages Industry Association (wafg), the Association of German Mineral Water Producers (VDM), the Association of the German Fruit Juice Industry (VdF), the German Brewers’ Association (DBB), and the Association of Private Breweries in Germany. Together with the industry associations, they are appealing to policymakers to refrain from imposing additional burdens on businesses and consumers.
In their letter, the companies make it clear that the beverage industry in Germany is characterized by great diversity and is predominantly made up of small and medium-sized enterprises, consisting of hundreds of family-owned businesses with deep regional roots. In recent years, these businesses have already been significantly burdened by rising energy, logistics, packaging, and labor costs. Added to this are the effects of consumer reluctance to spend and the ongoing crisis in the restaurant industry. Against this backdrop, the companies warn of the consequences of an additional tax.
In the industry’s view, a sugar tax would hit not only businesses but also consumers hard. Low-income households, in particular, would face additional financial burdens. The beverage industry points out that food prices are already at a very high level, and further price increases would further weaken the purchasing power of many people.
At the same time, the signatories question the effectiveness of a sugar tax in terms of public health policy. They point out that support for such measures is often based on model calculations that merely assume an effect but cannot prove it. “There is a lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of a sugar tax,” the beverage industry emphasizes. Furthermore, the industry highlights that it has already made significant progress in reducing sugar content. According to official surveys, the sugar content of commercially available soft drinks in Germany has fallen by about 15 percent since 2018. This is attributed to a successful industry-led initiative implemented through formula changes, innovations, and an expanded range of reduced-calorie and zero-calorie products: “The figures show that sugar reduction in beverages is already a reality,” the signatories state.
From the beverage industry’s perspective, a sugar tax would neither address the complex causes of obesity and diet-related diseases nor make a sustainable contribution to stabilizing the statutory health insurance system. Instead, it is a symbolic policy measure that would impose significant economic and bureaucratic burdens. In particular, neither the experience in the United Kingdom nor in other countries shows that such a massive government intervention has improved public health.
Furthermore, a sugar tax would not generate reliable fiscal revenue. The model analyses conducted so far have ignored both the foreseeable high costs of tax collection and the costs of monitoring. Furthermore, the federal government itself is unsure, on this basis, what revenue will actually be realizable in the short and long term. Moreover, the measure would not yield any significant savings for the statutory health insurance (GKV) system —the underlying report from the Health Finance Committee to the federal government itself assumes only an “average annual savings potential of approximately 20 to 170 million euros in the statutory health insurance system.”
Against this backdrop, the more than 300 signatory companies urgently appeal to the federal government and the Bundestag to refrain from imposing new burdens and to provide small businesses and skilled trades with planning certainty. “In these exceptionally challenging times, our businesses need reliability and a vision for the future—not new burdens,” the letter concludes.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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