President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed Cooperativa Pascual's concerns over the IEPS increase on sugary drinks, promising meetings with the Mexican company. The 40-year-old cooperative warned of disproportionate impacts on national firms. Sheinbaum stressed the need to reduce sugar content in beverages.
Cooperativa Pascual, a 100 percent Mexican company founded in the late 1930s by Rafael Víctor Jiménez Zamudio as Pascual S.A., initially focused on popsicles and bottled water, has overcome challenges leading to its current cooperative model. In 1982, after the owner refused a government-mandated salary increase, workers struck on May 18, escalating to a clash on May 31 that left two dead. After two years of negotiations, in August 1984 the assets were adjudicated to the workers, and on May 27, 1985, it formally began under the 'Proyecto Aguascalientes'.
Its brands include Boing!, Pato Pascual, Lulú, Mexicola, Néctasis, and Leche Pascual, made with 100 percent Mexican fruit and sugar cane. The cooperative operates on a social economy model, reinvesting profits into jobs, community development, and support for national producers.
On November 7, 2024, during her morning conference, Sheinbaum responded to the company's communiqué expressing concern over the IEPS increase approved by the Chamber of Deputies for the 2026 Economic Package: 3.8 pesos per liter for sugary drinks and 1.5 pesos for those sweetened with edulcorants. 'Un aumento de esta magnitud en el IEPS afecta de manera desproporcionada a las cooperativas nacionales, que no cuentan con el mismo margen financiero ni las ventajas fiscales de las grandes compañías internacionales. Esta situación pone en riesgo empleos cooperativos', warned Pascual, proposing differentiated taxes for firms using national inputs, fair jobs, and reinvestment.
'Queremos mucho a la cooperativa, por supuesto que hablaremos con ellos. Lo importante es que no tengan tanto contenido de azúcar las bebidas', Sheinbaum replied, announcing meetings between the Secretaries of Finance and Health with the company to review proposals and avoid harm.
