POLAND – American snack and beverage giant PepsiCo is doubling down on its healthy snacking agenda with plans to invest in a new US$256 million food manufacturing plant in Poland.
The new plant- its largest and most sustainable in Europe- will manufacture a range of PepsiCo’s snacks, including Lay’s fried and oven-baked and Doritos.
The plant will export to over 20 European countries including Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary and is slated for completion in 2025.
Building a new plant is timely as PepsiCo aims to increase sales of healthy snacks as it seeks to make the category one of the fastest-growing in the next four years.
The company also expects to expand healthy snacking to a US$1 billion portfolio by 2030 and the Polish facility will play a strategic role in realizing this goal.
“We have been operating and investing in Poland for 30 years and already have an established network of four plants exporting to markets in Europe,” said Michal Jaszczyk, general manager, PepsiCo Poland.
“Poland’s strategic geographic location offers a central location for production to meet consumer demand across Europe.”
Poland also boasts a strong talent pool and offers high-quality agricultural raw materials, including corn, potatoes and sunflower oil.
“We already have a successful Agro Farming Program with over 80 Polish farmers, working with some for over 27 years. We’ll be looking to expand this through the new facility,” Jaszczyk added.
Sustainable development is also important. Through this plant which is expected to be fully carbon neutral by 2035, PepsiCo will be significantly cutting down its European carbon footprint.
As it is, PepsiCo’s manufacturing in Poland already uses 100 percent renewable electricity. However, it is anticipated that this plant will go further with its carbon neutrality claims.
Alongside low utility consumption, the facility will be fully self-sufficient, generating energy via solar panels, with plans to introduce an on-site solar farm in the future.
Heating, cooling and water at the site will also be reused and rainwater will be collected for use on-site.
Even the potato waste from manufacturing will play a key role as the leftover peelings will be used in a special biomass generator to help power the plant and then afterward they will be converted into a low carbon fertilizer which will be provided to farmers to help grow the company’s next crop.
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