Drink Makers Face Capacity Limits amid Soaring Demand

Tokyo, March 24 (Jiji Press)--Beverage makers have little room to raise bottled water output further as demand is surging in Tokyo due to spreading radiation scare.
"Our factories are already operating at full capacity," said an official of Suntory Holdings Ltd.
On Wednesday, the Tokyo metropolitan government advised residents in many parts of the Japanese capital to refrain from giving tap water to babies as radioactive iodine exceeding a permitted level for infants has been detected from samples collected at a drinking water treatment facility in eastern Tokyo.
This triggered a renewed wave of hoarding of bottled water, which has already been in short supply at many retailers since the massive earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11.
Industry officials noted that many beverage makers are finding it difficult to increase output further as they raised production after the earthquake.
At Sapporo Beverage Co., production of drinking water this month has so far been 80 pct higher than the year-before level, company officials said.
A Coca-Cola (Japan) Co. official complained that increasing production is difficult due to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> rolling power outage program. The power supplier introduced the program last week as its output capacity declined sharply due to the shutdown of its nuclear power plants in northeastern Japan following the quake.