The construction of a US$ 30m Pepsi bottling plant dubbed Varun Beverages Ltd has commenced in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Shankar Krishnan confirmed the reports and said that all the machinery and equipment that are required have been ordered and all resources needed for the completion of the plant were in place. He further said that the bottling plant is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2017.
“Based on our present networks, Pepsi bottling plant is projected to be completed by Q2 2017 and our priority is to launch the Pepsi brands, “Mr Shankar said.
Varun Beverages Zimbabwe which is undertaking the construction of the plant will focus on juice based beverages from PepsiCo‘s portfolio to augment its product offering.
“We would possibly look at juice based beverages in future. The decision to look at other sectors would be a factor of what our board decides as we move forward,” Shankar added.
Apart from undertaking the construction of the plant, Varun has also invested a considerable amount of money in chilling units in line with its “Cold is Sold” business motto whereby they are considering the investment in chilling units as one of their priorities in Zimbabwe.
“To grow our business we have a very straightforward formula, that is to ensure that the consumer get a good product offer at the best price and packs; apart from the product formula being simple, it should also be available at its reach and convenience and there should be excitement around the products for consumers to have a reason to be part of the brands and get the best talent to represent it.
Therefore, focusing on a quality product, attractive price, good distribution network, effective hiring of manpower and intense marketing initiatives are required so as to ensure that all goes well with the business,” he explained.
At the moment, Zimbabwe has massive potential for the beverage industry making it one of the reasons why Varun decided to invest in the country.
Varun Beverages Ltd is one of the largest franchisee in the world (outside US) of carbonated soft drinks (“CSDs”) and non-carbonated beverages (“NCBs”) sold under trademarks owned by PepsiCo.
They produce and distribute a wide range of CSDs, as well as a large selection of NCBs, including packaged drinking water.
PepsiCo CSD brands produced and sold by us include Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Seven-Up, Mirinda Orange, Mirinda Lemon, Mountain Dew, Seven-Up Nimbooz Masala Soda, Seven-Up Revive, Evervess Soda.