Pursuits
Venezuelans Face a New Threat – a Beer Shortage
- Empresas Polar says it can't access cash it needs for imports
- Low oil prices have cut government's supply of hard currency
A worker at the production line of beer brewery Polar in San Joaquin, Carabobo state, 100 miles West from Caracas. Polar Group is the largest private corporation of Venezuela, and also the largest supplier of food and drinks of the country. Photographer Diego Giudice/Bloomberg News
Photographer: DIEGO GIUDICE/BLOOMBERGThis article is for subscribers only.
Venezuelans, already frustrated by repeated power cuts and water restrictions, may soon suffer a new ignominy -- a beer shortage.
Empresas Polar SA, the country’s largest privately-held company and biggest brewer, said Wednesday that it will be forced to stop producing beer because it can’t get the foreign currency it needs to purchase malted barley.