PepsiCo Beverages North America to expand Colorado facility
US- PepsiCo Beverages North America (PBNA), the subsidiary of American food and beverage company, PepsiCo, is planning to make its Denver, Colorado facility the largest US site to date through an expansion project.
The company has acquired almost 152 acres of land in the Denver High Point development area to achieve its mission.
It is in this area that PBNA will construct the 1.2 million-square-foot manufacturing site, with the plant poised to hold three times the capacity of its current facility.
Following a lengthy and competitive site selection process that analyzed four states, PBNA said it chose Denver to host the project because of the town’s rich sustainability track record.
The bottling facility will produce branded products such as Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar, Gatorade, bubly, Rockstar, Propel, and Muscle Milk.
With a positive value chain at the forefront of its design, PBNA noted that the new development supports PepsiCo’s pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) pledge to positively impact people and the planet.
PBNA stated that it will aim to achieve 100% renewable electricity, best-in-class water efficiency, and reduced virgin plastic use in the new facility that will open in summer 2023.
The facility is expected to create around 250 new jobs in the Denver area in addition to keeping all 250 current employees at the site.
The initiative is part of PBNA’s effort to double down on its commitment to both the company’s 1,200 current Coloradan employees and Denver’s highly educated and skilled workforce populations.
Johannes Evenblij, PBNA’s west division president, said: “We’re thrilled to call Denver, a city that shares so many of our values, home to PepsiCo’s most sustainable US plant location. “
With the High Point facility serving a model for the future of PBNA’s supply chain, we’re eager to continue deepening our dedication to Colorado through positive impacts such as new job opportunities and more sustainable business solutions.”
According to the company, this significant project was also supported by several organizations including multiple agencies within the City and County of Denver.
It also got support from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, and Xcel Energy.
The unveiling of the expansion project is timely when the North American beverage unit saw organic revenue growth of 9%, but its volume fell by 1% in the recent PepsiCo’s Q2 results.
Gatorade, Aquafina, and Lifewater saw double-digit growth in the quarter even as inflation pushed up prices.
CEO Ramon Laguarta said the company expects that the North American business will be resilient and most of its international markets will be strong, despite macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility.
Expecting costs to rise even higher in the second half of the year, the global food and drink giant said it plans to keep shrinking product sizes and deploying other ways to manage rising expenses.
While higher costs weighed on its profits, PepsiCo saw a larger hit from the Russia-Ukraine war.
The company reported a US$1.17 billion charge for the quarter related to the conflict after pausing sales in Russia except for some essential items, like baby formula.
PepsiCo said it is now trying to discontinue or reposition some of its Russian juice and dairy brands.
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