ANDI Loses 3 Sugar-Industry Firms as Colombia’s Business Row Deepens
COLOMBIA · BUSINESS
Key Facts
- —What happened Incauca, Providencia and Sucroal notified ANDI they are leaving, Semana reported on 24 September 2026.
- —Who owns them All three belong to the Organización Ardila Lülle, which also owns soft-drink maker Postobón.
- —Coca-Cola’s move Coca-Cola FEMSA’s Colombian bottlers left only ANDI’s beverage chamber and remain members of the association.
- —The backdrop A reported order barring ministers from meeting ANDI president Bruce Mac Master, which the government has not confirmed.
- —The catch None of the companies has publicly linked its exit to the row with the government.
- —Why it matters ANDI is a main channel between business and ministers while Congress debates the 2027 budget.
Three sugar-industry firms are leaving ANDI, Colombia’s most powerful business lobby, and Coca-Cola’s bottlers have stepped back from part of it.
Colombia’s most powerful business lobby is losing members in the middle of a row with the new government. Three sugar-industry firms have told ANDI, the National Business Association of Colombia, that they are leaving.
Incauca, Ingenio Providencia and Sucroal all belong to the Organización Ardila Lülle, one of the country’s largest business groups. The magazine Semana reported their exit on Thursday 24 September.
Coca-Cola FEMSA’s Colombian bottlers have also stepped back, but only from ANDI’s beverage chamber. They say they remain members of the association.
Who Is Leaving ANDI
Incauca grows and processes sugar cane in the Cauca river valley. Ingenio Providencia, based in El Cerrito in Valle del Cauca, also grows and mills cane.
Sucroal turns sugar-cane derivatives into citric acid and other industrial raw materials. Its roots go back to 1966.
Semana noted that Incauca has long championed public–private partnerships. That work requires regular contact with the agriculture and trade ministries.
No public statement from the three companies or from the Ardila Lülle group explaining the move has been reported.
What Coca-Cola FEMSA Actually Did
Coca-Cola Bebidas de Colombia and Industria Nacional de Gaseosas, known as Indega, wrote to ANDI president Bruce Mac Master. They said they were leaving the Chamber of the Beverage Industry, effective on receipt of the letter.
The decision “is limited exclusively” to that chamber and does not mean leaving ANDI, the letter said. The bottlers added that they were up to date with their obligations.
The Coca-Cola system in Colombia said the move followed a review to match its representation to its strategic priorities. Its bottlers stay in ANDI’s Bogotá and Atlántico branches and in its logistics and distribution groups.
Semana reported that Coca-Cola FEMSA was still studying a possible full exit. Bavaria, PepsiCo, Postobón, Red Bull and Monster remain in the beverage chamber, according to the association’s member list cited by Minuto60.
The Reported Veto Behind the ANDI Row
The moves came within days of a post on X by Vicky Dávila, a former presidential hopeful who heads Semana’s publishing group. On 21 September she wrote that government sources confirmed no minister could meet Mac Master.
She added that officials were considering extending the ban to ANDI board members. The government has neither confirmed nor denied any such order.
La Silla Vacía, a political news site, said it had verified that the veto was real. The message was circulating informally in the cabinet, it said, but had not come directly from President Abelardo de la Espriella.
Mac Master told La Silla Vacía that the association has offered “to work quickly with the government on many fronts”. He said he would not comment on social-media posts.
Why the Government and ANDI Fell Out
La Silla Vacía could not establish the exact cause of the dispute. The version it found most likely involves donations for victims of the recent earthquake.
ANDI raised 200 billion pesos (about US$60 million) from members for the victims, the site said. De la Espriella reportedly resented that the money did not go through the First Lady’s foundation.
One executive told La Silla Vacía that the president hinted at a meeting in Barranquilla that he wanted change at ANDI. Staying on for ever at the head of business groups was not desirable, he reportedly said.
Mac Master has led the association since November 2013. He stayed on when a new board took over on 8 September.
A Pattern With Business Groups
It is not the government’s first clash with a business lobby. In August, Carolina Soto turned down the top job at the Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure a day after its board named her.
Before Soto declined, government spokeswoman Carolina Gómez had complained on X that the board ignored “the implicit message”. She objected that it chose someone with no closeness to the government.
The post was later deleted, and the chamber picked Tatyana Orozco.
Politicians on both sides have objected to the reported veto. Democratic Centre senator Andrés Forero said business associations’ autonomy and independence are “a democratic value that must not be lost”.
Former health and education minister Alejandro Gaviria, who is married to Carolina Soto, went further. He called the government “increasingly arrogant, isolated and ineffective”.
Other business-group leaders declined to comment, and one said their group would not speak out “on the basis of gossip”. Semana is owned by the Gilinski family, whose Gabriel Gilinski organised the Barranquilla meeting.
Why It Matters If You Invest in Colombia
ANDI speaks for thousands of companies in industry, commerce, services and finance, Semana notes. It also takes part in drafting economic, fiscal and labour rules.
La Silla Vacía argues that the government’s economic agenda depends almost entirely on the private sector during a fiscal crisis. Before the row, Mac Master had been tasked with listing private investment stalled while firms wait for licences and permits.
The timing matters too. The 2027 budget of 634.9 trillion pesos (about US$190.7 billion) cleared its first debate in Congress’s economic committees on 23 September.
ANDI has warned about health funding in it. It estimates a hole of about 3.7 trillion pesos (about US$1.1 billion) in the contributory scheme for workers who pay in.
What Comes Next
So far, the three exits are known only through Semana’s report. Watch whether other members follow and whether Coca-Cola FEMSA completes a full exit.
A formal government statement on the reported veto would also change the picture.
Sources: Semana, three companies leave ANDI, 24 September 2026; Minuto60, Coca-Cola letter and reactions, 25 September 2026; Infobae, Coca-Cola bottlers’ letter to ANDI, 24 September 2026; La República, 2027 budget passes first debate, September 2026; La Silla Vacía, the veto and its background, 22 September 2026. Exchange rate: Colombia’s official TRM for 25 September 2026, 3,329.61 pesos per US dollar.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ANDI?
ANDI is the National Business Association of Colombia, the country’s most powerful business lobby. Bruce Mac Master has led it since 2013.
Which companies are leaving ANDI?
Incauca, Ingenio Providencia and Sucroal, all part of the Organización Ardila Lülle, notified ANDI of their exit. Coca-Cola FEMSA’s bottlers left only its beverage chamber.
Did the government ban ministers from meeting Mac Master?
Journalist Vicky Dávila reported such an order on 21 September, citing government sources. The government has not confirmed or denied it.
Does this affect foreign investors?
No rules have changed. But ANDI is a key channel between companies and ministers. A long freeze could slow talks on permits and the 2027 budget.
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- Colombia’s 2027 Budget Is a Stabilisation Operation, Warns Industry Chief Bruce Mac Master
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