For immediate release
8th May 1998
Swire Beverages has boosted its Coca-Cola production capacity in Fujian Province with the opening today (8th May 1998) of a US$40 million new plant in Xiamen.
Covering 70,000 square metres in Fanghu Industrial Zone, the new plant gives Swire Coca-Cola Beverages Xiamen Ltd. a permanent base for its rapidly growing operations, which have been housed in temporary premises pending the completion of this new facility. The plant employs a staff of over 300, and is equipped with three bottling lines - one canning line, one PET (plastic) bottle filling line and a returnable glass bottle line. It produces Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and Smart, and distributes them in addition to the local juice brand Tian Yu Di. With an annual capacity of 30 million unit cases, the new plant will enhance Coca-Cola's market leadership in Fujian, where it currently commands a 35 per cent share of the provincial soft drinks market.
Swire Beverages holds 51 per cent of the equity in the new facility. The remaining stake is held by Xiamen Luquan Industries General Company Ltd.
Presiding over the plant's opening ceremony today - which coincided with the 112th anniversary of Coca-Cola - the Chairman of Swire Beverages, Jim Conybeare, said: "This new facility, with its much bigger capacity, will complement the rapid growth of our business in Fujian, a trend which we are confident will continue. Xiamen is one of China's first special economic zones and Fujian, one of the country's fastest growing provinces. It has a well-developed consumer market and a discerning spending population, which means that quality brands such as Coca-Cola have a natural competitive edge over others. With this new facility, we are able to enhance that edge and extend our reach and penetration of the market."
The President of Coca-Cola China Ltd., John Farrell, said: "It is highly appropriate that we are opening new facilities in China just as our global consumption rate has passed the 1 billion daily servings mark. As the world consumes more Coca-Cola products, today we are moving to better serve the growing demand from our consumers in Fujian and Jiangxi provinces."
Swire Beverages, one of Coca-Cola's anchor bottlers, has interests in nine bottling plants in Mainland China. At present, over 9,000 staff are employed in its various operating companies in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States. The population of the markets served by these operating companies is estimated to be 412 million. Swire's involvement with Coca-Cola dates back to 1965 when the Coca-Cola franchise for Hong Kong was acquired.
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