CCEP to install high-speed drinks line at its facility in Vic

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) has announced plans to invest an additional $105.5 million for a new Warmfill Line for producing sports drinks at its Moorabbin plant in Victoria. Expected to be operational in early 2026, the new line will have the capacity to deliver up to 17.8 million unit cases annually.

Sports drinks are projected to be one of the fastest growing categories in non-alcoholic ready-to-drink (NARTD) in the future as consumers continue to focus on health and wellbeing, particularly in no-sugar variants which have experienced significant recent growth.

In response to the increased demand, the Warmfill Line upgrade will form part of the existing manufacturing facility at Moorabbin and will boost the capacity of the Warmfill network in Australia, increasing the capacity to deliver more of these beverages across Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

The construction of the line includes the development of a 4200 m² manufacturing hall, installation of a high-speed 640 bpm (bottle per minute) Nitro-Warmfill line and upgrades to the existing infrastructure, encompassing water treatment, electrical systems, compressed air, nitrogen dosing, heating and cooling systems, as well as a syrup room for Warmfill product manufacturing.

CCEP said it is committed to a ‘make it where you sell it’ approach to manufacturing in order to reduce the environmental impact of transporting goods. The new line will allow the company to manufacture Powerade and Fuze Tea in Victoria, in addition to existing production lines in Brisbane and Perth.

The line is expected to reduce inter-business transportation of Warmfill products and their raw materials by 2.9m km annually, resulting in an approximate annual reduction of 3785 tonnes of CO₂.

Orlando Rodriguez, Managing Director at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Australia, said, “By installing a new line in Moorabbin (Vic), we will be able to increase the capacity of the Warmfill network in Australia and continue to distribute more of our great products locally.”

Vaughan Constructions has been appointed for the work, which will commence this month (August 2024).