Tholen – ‘The Hague, we don’t enjoy it anymore’. Under this motto, six different pure juice producers are taking action against the planned increase in consumption tax as of January 1, 2024. With the increase, producers will not pay 9 cents, but 26 cents per liter in tax on their juices from January 1. It is unjustified that pure juices are subject to the same measure as soft drinks, according to the initiators. “We, and by extension also the fruit growers, are the victims of a measure taken decades ago,” says Albert Schulp of Schulp Vruchtensappen and spokesperson for the initiative.
Producers of pure vegetable and fruit juices, just like soft drink manufacturers, have been paying consumption taxes since the 1980s. “Now the government wants to introduce an increase in the consumption tax from January 1, which is intended as a kind of health tax,” Albert continues. “We were looking for a quick way to introduce a ‘sugar tax’. In order to implement the measure quickly, it was therefore decided to use the consumption tax as a new sugar tax. Because we are already subject to the existing rule, we are now also fumbling at the elevation. A fact that surprised everyone.”
Because, Albert says, fruit juice manufacturers cannot even add less sugar to their juices. “Soft drink or energy drink manufacturers can choose to opt for sugar substitutes or a variant with less sugar. However, we work with natural sugars from fruit that comes directly from the trees. We cannot extract these from the fruit. In addition, it is already free special, because relatively little fruit is already eaten in the Netherlands. So it certainly seems to me to be a good measure to stimulate consumption, but if our prices rise, people will increasingly choose other drinks that do not contain natural fruit.”
Danger for producers and fruit growers
The producers, including Flevosap, De Appelaere, Appeven, Van Kempen, Fruityline and Schulp, state that the new tax will cause price increases of 10 to 20 percent. “In a year in which prices have already risen so much and where people have to watch their money, this could be catastrophic for the sales of pure fruit juices. Not all producers will survive that, I fear. In addition, it also has an impact on the fruit growers. We now buy all our fruit from Dutch growers, but if less juice is consumed, the question will be how much fruit we still have to buy from local growers. It is also the reason that, for example, NFO and the Testing Garden for Fruit Cultivation has separately sent a letter to the House to support us and to indicate that they support our plea.”
Deadline approaching
And so action must be taken, Albert explains, because the deadline is rapidly approaching. “We already took action before the House of Representatives a while ago. At the time, it was already a boost to hear that all parties were surprised that we were covered by the measure. We also heard various reactions there that something had to be done, but the wheels are turning. not always quickly and that is why it is now important to translate this into policy.”
The activists recently suffered a setback when a motion from BBB for the exclusion of pure juices did not pass the House. “We actually expected him to pass, but a party that seemed to support our position surprisingly voted against. Now there will be a committee meeting this week, where we want to show that our plan is about both the left and the right deserves support. We are fully committed to this for the debate that will take place next week. It is now getting late, but we still have good hope that common sense will win.”
The Netherlands is the odd one out
The joint parties also take courage from research by the ministry itself and the situation in other countries. “The Netherlands is really an odd one out in this respect. In many countries there is a kind of ‘sugar tax’, but in almost all cases pure juices are excluded. Certainly in Europe there is a few that also counts. In addition, research conducted by the ministry and the RIVM shows that it is entirely possible that pure juices will be excluded from the new tax increase. It continues to bite the nails, but we notice very broad support from the sector,” concludes Albert.
For more information:
We don’t enjoy it anymore
Wijsappenernikesmeervan@gmail.com
www.wijsappenerniksmeervan.nl
Albert Schulp
Scallop Fruit Juices
Sand path 76
3621 NG Breukelen
Tel: (0346) 26 39 30
info@schulp.nl
www.schulp.nl