EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 25 No. 01+02/24 www.petpla.net 10 Soft drinks, water and more snacks in the future Multinational brand on course for expansion in the UAE In 2016, the bottler Dubai Refreshment, franchisee for PepsiCo products, relocated to its new plant in Dubai Investment Park 2, just over 30 km south of the city centre. The new site, a greenfield project that currently employs around 700 people, was deliberately designed for continuous capacity expansion and, in addition to the state-of-the-art setup of European machine builders for its water and soft drinks bottling, not only offers plenty of space for additional equipment in the future, but has also taken a number of sustainability and environmental measures into account during construction and implemented them in a future-proof manner. In the foyer of Dubai Refreshment with Wael Nehme (left) and Kay Barton Interview meeting with Dubai Refreshment Company (DRC) December 5, 2023 We met: Mr Wael Nehme, VP, Supply Chain And Projects The history of Dubai Refreshment goes back to the late 1950s. It all began in 1959 with the establishment of a glass line for returnable Pepsi bottles and 20 employees in Deira in northern Dubai. In 1962, the company became an official Pepsi franchisee and delivered its drinks to customers with five trucks. Over the decades, many other products from the multinational brand’s range were added. One main product, Aquafina still water, has been bottled here since 2004 and was listed on the stock exchange in 2007. Five bottling lines are now in operation in the new factory, an investment of around US$ 200 million. A total of 15 different beverage brands roll off the production line here: Pepsi, 7Up, Mirinda, Shani, Lipton Iced Tea, Mountain Dew, Aquafina, Mathieu Teisseire, Ceres, Rockstar, Robinsons, London Essence, Evervess, Britvic, Gatorade, Life WTR and Ceres Juice. Pepsi and Aquafina make up the majority with more than 90%. In addition, the snacks Dofreeze Cakes, Edita Wafers and, more recently, Lay’s Crisps are also sold. The plant comprises two turnkey KHS lines for PET with 40,000bph capacity for 0.33 l to 2.25 l bottles, two turnkey KHS lines for cans with 90,000cph each for 0.15 l to 0.33 l, as well as a Simonazzi glass line with 24,000bhp for 0.25 l CSDs as well as for 0.33 l and 0.75 l Aquafina. These, as well as one of the PET and one of the canning lines, were taken over from the previous site and modernised. In addition to water and CSD, the two newly added lines can also hot fill. Preforms (PCO1881 in clear and green for CSD, 29/25 in clear for Aquafina) are bought in from various sources, and bottle blowing takes place on Sidel blow moulding lines (SBO12 for Aquafina, SBO8 and SBO14 for CSDs). The latest technologies in the range include 100% rPET bottles for the Pepsi, Pepsi Diet and Pepsi Black brands, which the company launched in October 2023 with the new legislation on the use of recyclate in food contact. PET accounts for 47% of total production. The plant currently has over 300 stock keeping units and produces over 60 million crates annually. “We are talking about one of the most modern production facilities in the Middle East,” explained Mr Wael Nehme, BSc and MBA graduate from American universities in Cairo & Dubai respectively, at the meeting. He has been working in operations and supply chain for more than 30 years. His personal career led him via Pepsi Société Moderne Libanaise Pour Le Commerce (SMLC) in Lebanon, Pepsi United Beverages in Kuwait and Pepsi Al Qahtani in Saudi Arabia to Dubai Refreshment in 2001. Here he started as Operations Manager and became responsible for the entire supply chain, from procurement, production, maintenance, quality control and 1.5 l bottles of Mountain Dew on their way to the palletiser EDITOUR
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