PepsiCo to Build New Snack Processing Plant in Russia

PepsiCo has broken ground on a new snacks processing plant in Novosibirsk, Russia, the company’s third salty snacks plant in the region. The snack giant owns more than 20 production sites in Russia, having reportedly invested over USD10bn since it began operations in the country.

The new facility will make Lay’s chips and Khrus Team croutons and will have an expected capacity of more than 60,000 tons. The company said it is investing approximately RUB12bn (USD160m) in the plant. The first two production lines of the plant are expected to be operational by the end of 2021.

“The region has created favorable conditions for the work of large foreign investors. Despite the objective difficulties caused by the pandemic, we plan to build and launch a new enterprise on time,” said Neil Sturrock, president of PepsiCo Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Caucasus and Central Asia.

He said the new plant will be built in accordance with the principles of PepsiCo —which means it will be as energy efficient as possible. Modern environmental standards will be introduced at he site, including those for waste disposal. To provide the plants with the necessary raw materials, their agricultural team is already working on the development of the raw material base of future suppliers.

PepsiCo also said it will introduce an agricultural program in the region aimed at providing the new plant with local potatoes. All Lay’s potato chips in Russia are made exclusively from potatoes grown in the country, PepsiCo said.

As the biggest industrial buyer of potatoes in Russia, PepsiCo runs a large-scale agro program, which includes organizing training sessions and seminars for growers, as well as providing farmers with seeds, fertilizers and plant protection products.

The Novosibirsk facility is expected to increase the efficiency of the company’s logistics network through localization of production. With its establishment, PepsiCo will be able to provide local consumers and those from nearby countries with snacks manufactured in Siberia.

PepsiCo expects the facility to create around 900 new jobs in the Novosibirsk region.