Beverage giant Coca-Cola has invested $63 million for its operations here in the Philippines to be used for expanding its Sta. Rosa plant and improving production capacity.
Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. President and CEO Gareth McGeown on Tuesday said the multinational is investing $63 million, or more than P3.06 billion, in its Philippine operations this year. Further, he said this may just be the first tranche of a number of capital inflows that the firm will inject to the economy in 2021.
“This is our first tranche of investment into 2021, coming from over $90 million that we spent last year,” McGeown said in an interview with reporters.
He said much of the investments is allocated for pumping up the volume capacity of its factory in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, in a move to recover from the losses Coca-Cola incurred last year. This will also mark a return of priority in the firm’s Luzon business after focusing its adjustments in Mindanao in 2020.
“Primarily, it will go to increasing our capacity, specifically this time around Luzon. Last year we invested heavily in Mindanao. We saw a lot of growth potential in Mindanao,” McGeown said.
A portion of the investments is directed toward purchasing new trucks, which will be used for delivery, that are compliant with fuel efficient standards
The multinational popular for its soft drink brand is also looking at strengthening its products cased in glass bottles as part of efforts to reduce its reliance on plastic.
“On top of that though, we’ll also be investing in some of our logistics sites around some of our environmentally trucks, [and] a lot of our business is around the return of glass base,” McGeown said.
The Coca-Cola chief added the Philippines may get another round of investments should the economy perform better in the coming quarters. If it does so by the third quarter, McGeown said more capital will be injected to improve production capacity and capabilities.
“That’s kind of what we want to get to by third quarter assuming that the business continues to progress and do well, we will be asking for more investments to continue to build capacity and capability across our system,” he said.
The new cycle of investments will also be used to make sure the jobs of Coca-Cola’s 10,000 workers across the Philippines will be protected in a period when unemployment is rising. The firm is eyeing to expand its multiplier effect by reaching more makeshift stores and supplying them with its brands.
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