In recent years, Colombia has become the third most important market in Latin America for PepsiCo, and one of the most prosperous worldwide. The sustainable growth of this multinational has been so significant that the company formalized new investments in the territory, which in turn will serve to reaffirm confidence in the country.
In order to strengthen the company’s value chain, PepsiCo will expand its production capacity in Guarne (Antioquia) and in Funza (Cundinamarca), with an investment that will allow it to continue advancing towards its purpose of creating a sustainable food system. With an estimated amount of US $ 158 million, the company bets on four pillars: innovation, infrastructure, agriculture, communities and sustainability; For this last point, there will be technologies that help take care of the environment, focused on having a positive impact on water, the implementation of renewable energies, and that also allow manufacturing plants to have zero waste.
The project will be divided into two parts: on the one hand, the construction of a new production plant in Guarne and the expansion of the production plant in Funza. These works will allow PepsiCo to continue its work with communities, since through its Foundation, they will seek initiatives focused on water, recycling, the empowerment of women in agriculture and the development of sustainable agriculture. To date, the company has 10 programs in 12 municipalities throughout the country.
On the other hand, the multinational wants to continue strengthening the associations with small farmers by expanding the intervention areas in the Colombian countryside. As announced, the company will begin to buy 20% more potatoes in Colombia, which will boost the sale of this national agricultural product. Each year, the country consumes 80,000 tons of potatoes and 18,000 tons of bananas.
Betting on its commitment to being faster, stronger and better, PepsiCo projects significant growth in the future, and it is because of this that it decides to face that next demand with new investment in the country. To meet its goal, the Funza plant will have the installation of a PC-50 technology, this will increase production by more than 140%, in addition to allowing the processing of more than 16,000 additional tons of potatoes per year, also expanding the scope of input purchases from Colombian farmers. Only in this plant $ 609,000 million pesos will be invested in upgrading.
An investment of US $ 93 million is estimated for the new plant in Guarne, which includes new packaging technologies. This will be PepsiCo’s largest production plant in Colombia, there will also be a water treatment system with the best technology in the world, which will allow a high percentage of recirculation with zero solid waste. Likewise, there will be different production lines that include brands such as Natuchips, DeTodito and Doritos, only this plant will be able to house more than 400 workers. The start of construction in Guarne began in August last year and plans to be delivered by 2022.
Currently PepsiCo has three plants in Colombia: one in Funza (Cundinamarca), another in Bogotá and one in Sabaneta which will be modernized and moved to Guarne (Antioquia).
The ACI Medellín has given permanent support to of the company to facilitate the implementation process of what will be a project for the economic growth and social development of the entire region.