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THE
chairman of The Coca-Cola Co., Mr. Neville Isdell, on
Tuesday started his special return visit to the
Philippines to announce the Philippine launch of
Nutrijuice, designed to fight anemia among Filipinos,
specifically among children of low-income families. The
fortified beverage was developed together with the Food
and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of
Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST).
“I am
personally very thrilled and honored to be back here as
we at Coca-Cola launch this new juice which I’m sure
will positively impact the local communities,” Isdell
said.
“We look
forward to continuing to play a key role in the
development of the economy and the community.”
Nutrijuice is an orange juice drink fortified with iron,
zinc, lysine and vitamins A and C, seen to help combat
iron-deficiency anemia among Filipino schoolchildren.
Coca-Cola will initially distribute Nutrijuice to 5,000
students in Quirino province and 1,500 students in
Bagong Silangan Elementary School, in partnership with
the FNRI of the DOST and the local office of the
Department of Education in Quirino.
The
event also marked the inauguration of the 80th
Coca-Cola-sponsored Little Red Schoolhouse in the
Philippines, as the venue of the event was a brand-new
Coca-Cola-sponsored school in Bagong Silangan. During
his visit to the Philippines in March 2007, Isdell
promised President Arroyo Coke would increase the number
of Little Red Schoolhouses to 80 in the Philippines to
mark the company’s 80 years in the Philippines.
The
Little Red Schoolhouse program of the Coca-Cola
Foundation builds three-classroom, multigrade schools to
bring quality education to Filipino children. The
program also involves teacher- training programs, as
well as Read-a-Thon programs through the Sa Aklat
Sisikat Foundation.
Isdell
was stationed in the Philippines in 1981 as the first
president of the newly formed Coca-Cola Bottlers. |
