PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2018

BOTTLING / FILLING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 09/18 www.petpla.net 34 Developments and goals of Coca-Cola Beverages in Africa Soft drinks and recycling in Uganda by Kay Barton With final regulatory approval from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Competition Commission confirmed in mid-2015, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) was established as an entity created by the 2014 merger of the bottling inter- ests of the Coca-Cola Company, SAB Miller (now AB InBev) and Gutsche Family Investments (GFI), the former Coca-Cola SABCO main shareholder. The three parties who had already been active in the African market for a number of years. The Coca-Cola Company now owns 65.5% of CCBA, and GFI owns 34.5%. The decades- long experience of both partners in the sector of beverage production contin- ues to influence CCBA and is expected to pave the way for further expansions. Currently, the company is considering the acquisition of AB InBev’s non- alcoholic beverage production plants in Botswana and Zambia, as well as other opportunities. CCBA has three bottling sites in Uganda, with 1,057 permanent employ- ees including those at their subsidiar- ies. These include two Century Bot- tling Company factories and Rwenzori Bottling Company factor, which merged in 2016 to become the largest bottler in the country. In Spring 2018, US$8.35m was invested into one of Century Bot- tling’s factories in Nawanve, near the capital city of Kampala, for a new, German-manufactured water bottling line. The original factory was the first business to open its doors in the new Namanve Industrial Park, in 2001; Rwenzori Bottling is just next door. The second Century Bottling Company fac- tory is 270km away in Mbarara, South- West Uganda. Alongside Coca-Cola itself, Fanta and Rwenzori Water are CCBA’s best- selling brands. Its total Ugandan output is 46 million cases, around 44% of which (13 million cases) are water. The remaining 33 million units are made up of CSDs, juices, RTDs, teas and sport and energy drinks. The drinks are bot- tled in 280ml, 350ml, 400ml, 500ml, 750ml, 1.5l, 2l, 5l and 18.5l PET bot- Coca-Cola Beverages (CCBA) is the largest bottler of soft drinks for the continent of Africa and the seventh largest bottling partner globally, in terms of revenue, and accounts for around 40% of all Coca-Cola sold in the continent. With over 30 production and bottling sites and 15,000 employ- ees, the beverage giant supplies 550,000 businesses; they, in turn, serve around 249 million people in ten different countries: Ethiopia; the Comoro Islands; Ghana; Mayotte; Mozambique; Namibia; Kenya; South Africa; Tanzania; and Uganda. In many cases, CCBA is also the biggest employer in the country. In this article, we will be taking a closer look at production in Uganda. Collection and sorting point for post- consumer PET bottles