POLAND – PepsiCo, American food and drink giant has opened a new 1-billion-zloty (US$238M) snack plant in the southwestern Polish village of Święte, Bakery and Snacks has reported.

According to Bakery and Snacks, the facility, which will produce Lay’s and Doritos among other brands, is the firm’s fifth plant in Poland and its biggest investment so far in the country.

It is also the company’s first facility in the European Union designed to measure CO2 emissions, to achieve net zero emissions by 2035.

The 54,700m facility includes a 23,000m production hall, a purification plant, warehouses, and offices and will dramatically increase the scale of production.

The facility will eventually create 450 jobs to boost the economy in Poland and the snacks will be distributed to 20 European markets, including Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.

Built with sustainability at its core, the plant demonstrates how circular economy principles can be used throughout the entire lifecycle of a snack, to achieve a net zero status by 2035.

Silviu Popovici, CEO of PepsiCo Europe, said the location for the climate-smart facility was chosen because “Poland is a strategic market with a significant development potential,” while “PepsiCo has very good cooperation with the government.

He also noted the company’s well-established partnerships with local farmers. PepsiCo currently processes around 200,000 tonnes of sustainably-grown Polish potatoes in Poland.

He revealed that the company is now looking to expand its network of farmers to supply potatoes and maize for the snacks adding that, by 2025, the new plant will buy 60,000 tonnes of potatoes per year and, by 2027, 30,000 tonnes of maize.

The American ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski, who also was present at the opening ceremony, noted that “there is strong interest from US investors in investing in Poland”.

He stated that foreign investment in 2021-2022 in the country reached a “record-breaking amount” of 110 billion zloty (US$26.28M).

He intimated that whenever American companies ask what to expect in Poland, he always emphasizes that they are people who are very hardworking and very loyal.

Brzezinski revealed that several large US firms have announced major investments in Poland in recent years, adding that Poland will also host the first European Kimchi factory of South Korea’s Daesang Corporation.

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