CARACAS, Venezuela, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- One of Venezuela's largest corporations announced Monday that its production of food has fallen 30 percent so far in 2016 because of a shortage of corn, wheat and rice.
Manuel Felipe Larrazába, Empresas Polar's director of food operations, said a shortage of raw materials such as white corn, rice plants and durum wheat are the cause of the fall in production. He said the government's allocations of the raw materials are "well below" the required amount to produce corn flour, rice and pasta.
Polar has the processing ability to satisfy 10 percent of Venezuela's rice needs, Felipe Larrazába said, but the country has so far only received 3.9 percent of the materials needed to make the rice by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government, which imports the materials.
The conglomerate accused Maduro's regime of "unequal and discriminatory" access to raw materials.
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Felipe Larrazába said the shortage of raw materials has affected one of Venezuela's staple foods, Harina P.A.N. -- a white corn meal used to make a variety of dishes including traditional Venezuelan arepas and empanadas. The popular Primor pasta brand is also affected.
"Overall, Polar Foods has stopped producing almost 40 million kilos [88 million pounds] of Harina P.A.N. and have produced 26 percent below our ability and what was our normal production," Felipe Larrazába said at a press conference. "We have stopped making 11,314,000 kilograms [nearly 25 million pounds] of Primor pasta."
Maduro's government heavily regulates most of the country's economy, including food production and food imports. Empresas Polar, or Polar Companies, has proposed a plan to Maduro's regime to allocate a steady supply of raw material to increase food production by 67 percent.
Venezuela's economic crisis, which was exacerbated by a decrease in oil prices, has led to a shortage of basic goods -- including food and medicines.
"The commitment of Polar Foods with Venezuela is what has driven us to continue to insist in increasing domestic food production," Empresas Polar said in a statement. Despite the obstacles, we know that it is the only way that the country can overcome the crisis that currently bedevils Venezuelans."
