Pepsi starts new plant in Dong Nai

March 19, 2012 | 08:03

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PepsiCo Vietnam last week opened its new beverage plant in Amata Industrial Zone as part of its push to expand operations in the Mekong Delta.

The plant was acquired by PepsiCo from San Miguel Vietnam Company Limited, which obtained an investment certificate in 2004 for a life-span of 40 years. However, the $39.5 million project went into liquidation ahead of schedule.

The 10 hectare site will now be one of PepsiCo’s largest beverage plants in Vietnam. The new facility will produce PepsiCo’s popular brands, including Pepsi, 7Up, Mirinda, Twister, Sting and Aquafina purified water.

Shekhar Mundlay, president of PepsiCo Vietnam, said: “The acquisition of this plant is part of the corporate’s strategic development plan to maintain a sustainable growth and to produce and provide good supply for the increasing demand of the whole country, especially the southern and the South East region”.

Although the company has not revealed how much it had to pay for the deal, it is rumoured PepsiCo Vietnam forked out $45 million. Late last year Saad Abdul-Latif, chief executive officer of PepsiCo Asia, Middle East and Africa, revealed an ambitious strategy to pour $250 million into Vietnam within three years.

PepsiCo Vietnam now has six manufacturing bases in Vietnam, providing jobs for more than 2,000 workers directly and thousands of workers indirectly. A PepsiCo’s plant in Bac Ninh province, which held its ground-breaking ceremony in January 2011, will officially become operative by the middle of 2012.