PepsiCo Unveils US$93 Million Snack-Foods Plant Project in Antioquia

U.S.-based multinational snack-foods giant PepsiCo announced October 14 a US$93 million investment in a production plant in Guarne, Antioquia, just east of Medellin.

Colombia President Ivan Duque hailed the announcement during a nationally televised address October 14, citing this latest example of economic reactivation initiatives here even in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This investment will strengthen the company’s value chain in four pillars: innovation and infrastructure, agriculture, communities, and sustainability,” according to PepsiCo Colombia.

The Guarne plant project “began in August 2020, with local labor, and is expected to be completed in 2022,” according to the company.

“This will be the largest PepsiCo plant in the country, with different production lines that include brands such as ‘Natuchips,’ ‘DeTodito’ and ‘Doritos,’ and will have around 400 workers,” according to the company.

“The investment, which includes packaging automation technologies, will complement PepsiCo’s manufacturing system in Colombia and will allow it to continue to consolidate itself as one of the most important companies in the country, as it has been since its arrival in 1947.”

On a parallel front, “PepsiCo and its [charitable] Foundation will continue to develop initiatives along priority lines such as water [conservation], recycling, the empowerment of women and sustainable agriculture,” the company added.

“Currently there are 10 programs in 12 municipalities throughout the country, a number that is projected to increase after the investment. In addition, PepsiCo will continue to strengthen associations of small farmers and expand its areas of intervention in the Colombian countryside,” according to the company.

Water conservation, recycling and solar-electric power production are among the technologies to be employed at the new plant in Guarne, Antioquia, the company added.