Local Coca Cola manufacturing capacity has been expanded to produce 50,000 12oz bottles per hour in Santo Domingo. President Danilo Medina was present for the 19 March 2019 inauguration of new production lines on Tuesday, 19 March 2019. The high tech equipment is designed to operate 24/7 and can also produce 1.25- liter and 2.5-liter bottles of the Coca Cola brands sold in the country.
Speaking for Bepensa, the Mexican owners of the Coca Cola brand in the country, Juan Manuel Ponce said that the new plant is part of the commitment of the Mexican group to continue contributing to the development of industry in the Dominican Republic. The company has invested over US$350 million in the past 12 years.
Coca Cola markets eight brands in the Dominican Republic and has more than 70,000 customers nationwide and 12 distribution centers.
The company says the new line will facilitate the local operations’ participation in the global ‘World Without Waste’ campaign. Coca Cola Company has pledged to collect and recycle the equivalent of 100 percent of its packaging worldwide, and manufacture its bottles using at least 50 percent recycled plastic, by 2030.
Roberto Mercadé, president of the Coca Cola Company’s Latin America business division, said that the company contributed 0.3% to the Gross Domestic Product last year. He said the Coca Cola system creates 17,000 direct and indirect jobs or 0.4% of the total employment in the country.
A bill to tax soft drinks for the negative effects of the beverage on health was rejected last year in Congress.
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Presidencia
21 March 2019