PepsiCo has announced significant investments in increasing its production at its Belgian plant in Veurne (near Bruges). The investment of more than 200 million euros should also make the plant more sustainable and will create 150 additional jobs.
2 million bags of crisps
The plant is one of PepsiCo’s largest snacks production sites in Europe, with nine production lines on an area the size of eight football fields. The multinational produces about 83,000 tonnes of crisps a year here – more than two million bags a day. The snacks for the Lay’s, Doritos and Cheetos brands produced here are sold in fourteen countries.
In the coming years, PepsiCo plans to increase production by a third to 115,000 tonnes a year. The number of employees would grow from 650 to 800, the company announced during a visit by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Thursday.
Strategic location
PepsiCo will not only expand production in Veurne, but will also commission a new warehouse connected to the plant by a bridge more than 100 metres long and additional staff facilities. In addition, the manufacturer plans to phase out the use of fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75 %. By 2030, PepsiCo also aims to use eight times less tap water in its production process.
The total investment will exceed 200 million euros, PepsiCo BeLux general manager Miet Delmotte pointed out. “Because of its strategic location in Belgium, between France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, we resolutely choose our Veurne plant to make these important investments”, she elaborated.
