PepsiCo, one of the leaders in the food and beverage industry, announced today a $13 million investment in installing a state-of-the-art fully automated production line at the soft drinks factory in Dragomirești.

The production line is considered the most automated in PepsiCo's European portfolio and can achieve remarkable performance, producing approximately 1 million bottles per day. The energy consumption of this line is reduced by about 30% compared to conventional lines, while the energy consumption efficiency per liter produced is 30% higher.

Moreover, the new line produces 60% more beverages per unit of time, using 20% less carbon dioxide and reducing water consumption by 30% per liter of beverage produced. At the same time, it contributes to a decrease in the amount of plastic used by approximately 30 tons per year.

"The investment in automation reflects our commitment to innovation, sustainability, and efficiency. The new line can produce approximately 1 million bottles per day, consuming 30% less energy than a conventional line.

The high degree of automation of the line allows our employees to focus on improving processes, professional and personal development, as well as the continuous simplification of operations.

This investment will help us strengthen our position as a regional production and distribution hub for Central and Southeast Europe," said Radu Berevoescu, General Manager & Senior Commercial Director East Balkans, PepsiCo.

The new production line is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, providing an impressive level of automation. It is fully integrated into the automated warehouse flow, through automatically guided robots that handle and store the pallets.

In this way, the product goes through a completely automated process, from bottling to loading onto trucks, without human intervention. Most operations related to bottle format change, including mold change, are also automated, leading to increased efficiency in the production process.

PepsiCo's $13 million investment is an essential component of their 5-year development plan implemented at the Dragomirești soft drinks factory, with a total value of $40 million.

This plan involved improving production lines and increasing production capacity to over 800 million liters per year.

It also included the construction of a fully automated warehouse covering a total area of 15,000m2, valued at $15 million. In the last 10 years, PepsiCo has directly invested $320 million in Romania, consolidating its role as a regional production and distribution hub.