PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2013

BOTTLING / FILLING 26 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 07+08/13 www.petpla.net Coca-Cola installs 7,200bph SMI production line in Cape Verde Putting the fizz into Santiago Coca-Cola was first pro- duced in the islands of the Republic of Cape Verde in 1997. The Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Com- pany (ECCBC) itself, along with linked businesses, now occupies a prominent posi- tion in the local economy. It directly employs over 100 people at its Cavibel plant in Praia, the capital and main city of the Republic of Cape Verde, located on the island of Santiago. The new line has been installed in response to continually increasing demand and will package Coca-Cola and Fanta brands in PET bottles. ECCBC operates 14 factories in 13 countries, with a total production volume of about one billion litres. It started its production business in Africa in 1989 with just six people and a production volume of about 300.000l; today, it is a joint venture between Cobega and The Coca-Cola Export Co. and has 6,263 people on the payroll. Cobega, the largest business unit of the Span- ish group of the same name, includes bottlers and distributors of Coca-Cola products in Catalonia, Aragon, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and Portugal. In addition to Cavibel in the Republic of Capo Verde, the ECCBC business unit includes production facilities in Central and Northern Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Gambia, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé y Príncipe. Filling line for ginger drinks