Coca-Cola opens new bottling plant in Mandaue

CEBU, Philippines - Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc., officially opened its expanded manufacturing plant in Mandaue City, as part of the company’s US$1 billion investment for the Philippine operations in the next few years.

Coca-Cola Company executive vice president and president for the Bottling Investment Group Irial Finan, together with top executives from the Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines was in Cebu Monday, to grace the opening of the expanded plant.

“True to our promised US$1 billion investment in the Philippines over the next five years, we’re going from island to island. We began in Mindanao, with the completion of our newest and most technologically advanced Mega Plant in Misamis Oriental. Then we moved on to Luzon, where we expanded our Canlubang Plant and transformed it into a Center of Operational Excellence. And now we’ve reached the Visayas,” Finan said.

The Coca Cola Cebu plant expansion, which the company opted not to disclose the capacity, is also seen to generate employment opportunities here. Currently, its Mandaue plant employs around 370 associates, doing partnership with roughly 40,000 retailers.

Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines president Bill Schultz said that the company still has to calculate on where to put the rest of its capital expenditure (capex) in the next five years for the Philippines, saying “depends on how the market will evolve.”

Surely, he said the Philippines is one of the fastest growing markets for Coca-Cola in Asia, thus the company is on track with its US$1 billion investment in the next few years.

In the Philippines, the company has a total of 19 bottling manufacturing plants, Finan said the Philippines’ plants’ performance is one of the best in its worldwide operation.

Now, on its 100th year in the Philippines, Finan said the company is more committed to expand in the Philippines, while its people’s love for Coca Cola products is more and more surprising over the years.

The Coca Cola Cebu Plant was first established in December of 1941. It was the second bottling facility to be opened by Coca Cola after entering the Philippine market in 1912.

“We recognized the potential this city had to offer back then, which guided our decision 70 years ago to establish our second plant in the Philippines here. And we still believe in many opportunities Cebu has to offer, which is why Coca-Cola has once again chosen Cebu as its center for expansion in the region,” Schultz said.

The Cebu plant had already been recognized for its efforts in conserving water consumption, as in the last two year the plant saved at least P3M of water bills, which translate for water savings of equivalent to 1.2 million bath tubs.

Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Coca Cola Company based Atlanta, USA, operations a total of 23 plans and 47 sales offices across the Philippines, with over 7,000 employees.

The Philippines, was the first non-US nation to receive a Coca Cola bottling and distribution franchise. Today, the Philippines bottling operation is among the top ten biggest globally.

Coca Cola Company, is the world’s largest beverage maker, with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Along with Coca Cola (soft drink), the company’s portfolio of beverages include other 14 billion dollar brands, such as Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, Vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simiple and Georgia.

Through the world’s largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company’s beverages at a rate of 1.7 million servings a day. (FREEMAN)