On Tuesday, Coca-Cola announced the opening of its 44th plant in the country. The facility located in Hunan Province is the company’s biggest bottling plant in Central China.
Based on its design, the plant will contain nine production lines. Four of which will process water products, another four lines for sparkling beverages and one line for juice and juice drinks.
Four lines have begun operating on Tuesday. The other five lines are scheduled to start running by 2020.
The new plant is the first plant in Hunan with production lines for non-sparkling beverages. With its unique line, the annual production capacity of the plant is anticipated to reach the one billion liter mark.
Coca-Cola, the global leader in the beverage industry, spent 320 million yuan ($41 million) for the construction of the plant. The investment is a major part of the company’s $4 billion investment plan in China. The plan spans the period of 2015 to 2017.
“China is our third-largest market by volume, and we remain upbeat about the potential for growth throughout the market,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola Muhtar Kent said.
“Over the past few years, China's consumer market has undergone significant structural change and we have continued to invest and adapt to ensure we are best serving our consumers and customers in a fast-changing market,” the Coca-Cola executive added.
COFCO Coca-Cola Huazhong Beverages, a joint venture founded by Coca-Cola and China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO), will handle the operations of the new plant.
The COFCO Group, a state-owned food processing company, is the country’s largest food processing, manufacturer and trader.
Coca-Cola expands its business in the country with the launch of its largest bottling plant in Central China. The company expects to increase its sales as the new plant’s production lines start operating.