ZIMBABWE/ZAMBIA—Varun Beverages, part of India’s RJ Corp. food and drinks group, has entered into an agreement with multinational food and beverage major PepsiCo to manufacture and distribute snacks in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
This is a strategic move to bolster Varun Beverages’ presence in the African snacks market.
Based in Gurgaon, Haryana, Varun Beverages plans to invest approximately US$7 million in establishing two facilities in Zimbabwe and Zambia dedicated to producing PepsiCo’s Simba Munchiez brand of snacks.
According to a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Zimbabwe facility is targeted to become operational by October 1, 2025, while the Zambia plant is slated to come on stream around April 1, 2026.
Varun Beverages, which has been a franchisee for PepsiCo’s soft drinks brands such as Mountain Dew, Miranda, and 7-Up since the 1990s, revealed that each site will have the capacity to produce about 5,000 metric tonnes of snacks annually for the respective markets in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The production of Simba Munchiez snacks will be managed by the company’s individual subsidiaries – Varun Foods in Zimbabwe and Varun Beverages in Zambia.
Citing industry data, Varun Beverages indicated that the snacks market in Zimbabwe is estimated at around US$177 million annually, while Zambia’s market is valued at approximately US$156 million, where the company is looking forward to tapping into this market growth.
Earlier this year, in February, the company announced an agreement with PepsiCo to manufacture the US food and drink giant’s Cheetos snack brand in Morocco, with production set to commence by May 1, 2025. Varun Beverages estimates the snacks market in Morocco to be worth around $500 million annually.
Besides its ventures in Morocco, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, Varun Beverages also holds PepsiCo soft drinks franchises in Nepal and Sri Lanka. Within India, the company supplies beverages to 27 states.
In 2022, Varun Beverages commenced the production of PepsiCo’s Kurkure snacks brand at a Kosi, Uttar Pradesh plant and began distributing Lay’s and Doritos lines in Morocco the same year.
RJ Corp., the parent company led by chairman Ravi Jaipuria, also holds the franchises for major foodservice outlets in India, including KFC, Costa Coffee, and Pizza Hut, among others. The conglomerate generates annual revenue of around $2 billion.
This expansion signifies Varun Beverages’ commitment to strengthening its foothold in the African market and enhancing its partnership with PepsiCo, leveraging its extensive experience and infrastructure to tap into the growing demand for snacks in the region.
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