Professor Ethan Kapstein of US-based Steward Redqueen Strategy Consultants revealed that for each job provided by Coca-Cola, a further eight jobs are created across Great Britain both upstream and downstream – a total of 34,500 – an impressive figure with jobs at such a premium today.
This independent research also revealed that for every £1 of value created by Coca-Cola, the company supports an additional £8 elsewhere in the British economy, bringing £2.4bn annually.
“CCE plays a crucial role in supporting an entire web of broader economic activity within Great Britain that generates additional jobs and profits at businesses ranging from sugar beet production to packaging suppliers and those working in retail, both on- and off-trade,” said Kapstein.
The big announcement made by CCE communications director Julian Hunt was that CCE has plans to invest £1m a week as part of a £52m injection this year.
Among CCE’s investments will be a combined heat and power system at its Wakefield factory in West Yorkshire, Europe’s largest soft drinks plant, which will save 1,500 tonnes of CO2 a year – a 5.6% reduction for the site. Importantly, the iconic contoured Coca-Cola bottle is also to be blown there in larger PET formats, including 1.25ml and 1.75ml sizes.
A new high-speed canning line developed with Rexam at CCE’s Sidcup facility will see capacity increase from 57,600 cans per hour to 120,000, and it will be the only multi-formatted line to produce 150ml mini cans as well as the 250ml slim cans.
In Great Britain, most Coke products are sold through the big retailers, but if we have a great summer, all this could change and we could follow South Europe, where most Coca-Cola is drunk outside and sold through the cafe, bar and restaurant sector. Let’s hope we ‘bake and take’.
Gavin Partington of the BSDA said: “In the UK, the soft drinks industry creates around 20,000 jobs and 115,000 jobs in the wider supply chain. In the UK, we consume four billion litres of soft drinks each year and exports amount to £233m. It’s important that everyone understands the contribution we make.”
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