CHINA-Swire Coca-Cola Ltd., a Hong Kong-based subsidiary of conglomerate Swire Pacific, has embarked on a project to build a 2-billion-yuan (US$274 million) bottling facility in east China’s Jiangsu Province.
The Coca-Cola bottler also has plans for two other factories – a 900-million-yuan (US$123.3 million) factory in Zhengzhou, Henan province, and a 1.3-billion-yuan (US$ 178 million) plant in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.
“The three new plants in Suzhou, Zhengzhou, and Guangdong are expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2025,” Swire Coca-Cola announced in a statement.
While laying the foundation for the factory in Suzhou, the company revealed that the facility will be its single largest strategic investment in the Chinese mainland market once its completed in 2025.
The new plant will have 13 production lines with capacity to produce 1.6 million tons of drinks. Sales of these drinks are expected to generate about 1.2 billion yuan (US$164) in annual revenue for the company.
According to Dang Jian, CEO of Swire Coca-Cola Chinese Mainland, the new plant will host a modern factory integrating production, distribution, and regional sales headquarters in east China.
Additionally, the factory will incorporate cloud services and big data technology and integrate the concept of green and low-carbon production aimed to lead the industry’s digitization and green transformation.
He further clarified that with the advanced production lines in the food and beverage industry, the new plant will adopt a highly automated manufacturing information system and quality management system for comprehensive information flow management
He also added that cloud services and big data will catalyze human-machine collaboration within the factory.
The company added: “Since the construction of Zhengzhou and Guangdong plants are still at the planning stage, more information will be disclosed in the future.”
At present, Swire Coca-Cola owns more than 100 production lines in 25 factories on the Chinese mainland.
The company’s managing director for Mainland China Karen So is bullish on the immense growth potential in China’s beverage market.
“The fast-growing Chinese market is an important growth engine and key strategic market for Swire Coca-Cola, and the company will continue to increase its investment in the country,” said Karen So, managing director of Swire Coca-Cola.
So explained that part of that investment will be channeled into “adding new production lines in our existing factories across the nation in a bid to cater to local demand.”
Overall, Swire Coca-Cola said its “total investment” in mainland China would “exceed 12bn yuan in the next ten years”.
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