Essential News

• Worldwide, Coca-Cola has 19 concentrates plants and the new plant in Costa Rica will be one of the three largest and most technologically advanced in the world.

• It projects to generate 130 direct jobs in its first stage.

San José, Costa Rica. March 7th, 2018. The Coca-Cola Company announced at a press conference that it will install one of the largest and most technologically advanced concentrates plants of the corporation in the community of Liberia, Guanacaste. The new operation represents an initial investment of $ 50 million.

This was announced by representatives of Coca-Cola with the President of the Republic, Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera; the Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora; the Managing Director of CINDE, Jorge Sequeira, and the General Manager of Procomer, Pedro Beirute.

"We celebrate for Costa Rica and, especially for Guanacaste, the announcement of the choice of Liberia as the venue of one of the three most modern Coca Cola plants to produce concentrates. It confirms that the country is an investment destination that is based on the quality of its people, our stability and competitiveness; it reinforces us to continue redoubling efforts in which these investments are made in our provinces, to continue strengthening territorial development with generation of employment, welfare and opportunities. In this case, they are linked to local projects such as the Chorotega Regional Market, the expansion of the Daniel Oduber Airport and those that are executed in production, water, education and health, "said President Solís Rivera.

The new plant will replace the previous operation that was located at Uruca, San José. It will be built in 18 months and would start operating on January 1st, 2020. It will be in front of the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport within the Solarium Free Zone, specifically in a property of 103,000 m2 of which, the plant will be approximately 34,000 m2. The current plant in La Uruca occupies a space of approximately 18,500 m2.

The Minister of Foreign Trade, Alexander Mora, expressed his satisfaction and congratulations to Coca Cola, for this new investment. "We learned about this project and the opportunities it generates, in the visit we made with President Luis Guillermo Solís in 2015, to the corporate headquarters of Coca Cola in Atlanta. We immediately placed ourselves under the orders of the Company to support them in the maturation and concretion of the project. For this Administration, economic development and employment growth in areas outside of GAMA, through the promotion of investments, has been a primordial task. With this investment, Guanacaste will be home to one of the three largest and most technologically advanced plants of the company worldwide. "

Employment for Guanacaste. By 2020 it is expected to have 130 employees directly. According to data from CINDE, it is projected that with the arrival of Coca-Cola in Liberia, an additional 100 indirect jobs will be generated in this region, generating a positive impact on the surrounding communities.

Jorge Sequeira, Managing Director of CINDE, commented "The manufacturing and food industry companies attracted by CINDE accumulated at the end of 2017 the total generation of 13,593 jobs. We are pleased that the announcement made by Coca Cola will contribute to the generation of jobs in areas outside of GAMA, this time taking quality and well-paid jobs to the people in Guanacaste. "

"We are proud to make this announcement not only because we believe in the growth opportunities of Costa Rica, but also that our concentrate plant is celebrating 50 years of being installed in Costa Rica," said Roberto Mercadé, President of Coca-Cola for Latin Center.

"The project represents interesting opportunities for local linkage, particularly in the creation of indirect sources of employment, purchase of inputs and links with local organizations," added Mercadé.

At this time, Coca Cola is the leading exporter in the food sector and the third largest exporter of goods in Costa Rica, according to data from the Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer). In 2017, Costa Rica exported $ 10,665 million of goods, 7% more than in 2016. The contribution of Coca Cola is accounted in this important data.

"With the investment that the Coca-Cola Company is making in the new concentrate plant, we aim to double exports by 2024," concluded Mercadé.

From Costa Rica, not only the concentrate is supplied to Central America, the Caribbean, Chile, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina to produce Coca-Cola, but also to another 89 drinks owned by the Coca-Cola Company. Likewise, and in special cases, the European Union and Puerto Rico are supplied. Proof of this is that due to the devastation of Hurricane Maria from Costa Rica the concentrate for the Caribbean island has been replaced.

Among the best in the world. The new Coca-Cola Concentrates plant will be among the best in the world. It is expected that, at the time of the plant’s inauguration, it will be the most modern in technology within the corporation.

Part of the reasons are that it will use robots to carry out the packaging of the products, at some moments, and will use different systems to give traceability to the materials, among others.

The Coca-Cola concentrate plant will be friendly to the environment, as it is designed to apply for LEED Silver certification, which is a seal of quality that it grants buildings to prove that they are sustainable and good with the environment.

In addition, it will have systems for monitoring lighting, air conditioning and refrigeration system, to avoid waste.

The plant will also have solar panels, which will be in the part of the parking lots and will provide electricity to part of the facilities. Regarding the use of water, industrial water will be reused once treated for the handling of toilets, the irrigation system and for cooling towers.

Important data

• There are 19 Coca-Cola concentrates plants in the world.

• From this plant ingredients and flavorings and some other processes are mixed to produce concentrates and bases for beverages.

• The plant has undergone four major remodeling processes

o In 2001, the warehouses and warehouses area expanded.

o In 2009, the logistical areas of receipt and dispatch were expanded, as well as the warehouse area.

o In 2014, the manufacturing area was expanded to accommodate the high and growing demand for products.

o In 2017 a process of modernization of the manufacturing, filling and productive processes lines was concluded

• At the beginning of the operation, only the Coca-Cola concentrate was produced. Currently, more than 270 formulations are produced for 89 different flavors/ products.

• The concentrates plant has a great diversity of collaborators among them: operators in the manufacturing area, engineers from different areas, microbiologists, industrial chemists, business administrators, accountants, human resources specialists, among others.

• Recognitions or certifications

o ISO 9001- Quality Management System

o ISO 14001- Environmental Management System

o OSHAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System

o FSSC 22000 Food Safety Management System

o ISO17025 Laboratory and testing accreditation system

o Kosher Certification

o FDA Certification

o CADEXCO Export Effort Award in the Industrial Category