Coca-Cola Amatil has opened a AUD 165 million ($118.9 million) expansion of its bottling and warehouse facility in Brisbane, Australia, which is now capable of producing more than 90 million unit cases of drinks each year for national and export markets.
The facility, located in the suburb of Richlands, is the company’s largest Australian manufacturing plant and will produce a range of sparkling and still beverages, juices, teas, alcohol and dairy drinks.
It will be the exclusive Australian bottling and distribution centre for Coke’s ‘contour’ glass bottles and will make all of Amatil’s Australian dairy range, including all of Australia’s Barista Brothers drinks, and continue to export Barista Brothers and Powerade to New Zealand.
The expanded facility also includes a new 30,000-square-metre distribution centre, with capacity for 45,000 pallets. Benefits of the new centre include lower operating costs and reduced materials handling and fewer local truck movements.
Coca-Cola Amatil managing director Alison Watkins said: “This site was selected after a nationwide review which identified that we needed to modernise and invest to maintain competitiveness in the market.
“Of all the locations we looked at, Richlands offered the strongest combination of road and port access, efficiency in production, access to east-coast markets and room to grow. We also had great engagement with the Queensland Government, which was keen to support manufacturing investment and jobs.
“It’s great to call this site home, and we’ll be looking to grow local production even further over time.”
The facility was officially opened by Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who said: “Queensland has low operating costs, a skilled and adaptable workforce, the lowest payroll tax in the nation, generous research and development incentives, excellent transport infrastructure close to Asia and other export links, and a dynamic and stable economy which is expected to reach 3% growth this financial year.”
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