PepsiCo said it plans to invest £58 million pounds (€67.3 million) to boost potato crisp, or chips, manufacturing at its Walkers factory in Leicester, in what represents the consumer goods giant's biggest investment in Britain for 25 years.
The funding will create 100 new jobs at the site, one of the world's biggest crisp factories.
'Further Growth'
PepsiCo said the investment will help meet increased demand for its Walkers snacks, and mean production of brands including Wotsits Giants and Monster Munch Giants would move to Leicester from Europe in 2024.
"The scale of this latest investment is purposeful in securing the future of the factory and positioning Walkers...for further growth in the long term," PepsiCo said in a statement on Tuesday.
€127m Investment In Cork
Last month, PepsiCo announced it is on the verge of completing a €127 million investment project at its Little Island manufacturing facility in Cork, Ireland.
The initiative will see the opening of an additional manufacturing capacity and further investment in its research and development campus.
Over the last two years, the facility has increased its staff by more than 20%, with 642 out of its total Irish workforce of approximately 1,250 team members based in the Little Island, Cork campus.
"This very significant expansion will allow us to increase our manufacturing capacity and ensure that we can continue to meet the global demand for our existing and future product," said Brian Colgan, site lead at PepsiCo Little Island.
The facility, equipped with state-of-the-art manufacturing technology, supports the production of PepsiCo's global portfolio of brands including Pepsi Max, Gatorade, 7Up, Mountain Dew and Doritos.
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM – your source for the latest A-Brands news. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
