Coca-Cola Beverages Ukraine, the official bottler of Coca-Cola in Ukraine, is close to reaching its pre-war production and distribution volume in 2023, Coca-Cola HBS Director of Logistics Vladimir Choban said.
“In 2021 it was 120 million unit cases (all products, including imported products). In 2023, we expect 115 million unit cases (1 unit case equals 6 liters – IF) … We are so confidently moving towards this bar, realizing that it is the middle of the year …”, – said Choban at the logistics exhibition XXVIII Day of Logistics in Kiev on Friday.
According to him, the company resumed production at its plant in Bolshaya Dymerka in the Kiev region last May. However, due to problems with the ingredients, it produced only one fifth of the items in the assortment portfolio. Now it has already fully restored it, reaching 190 positions.
“I can say that we started producing 40 SKU (positions) in 2022. We were only putting on the shelf and distributing products that rotate quickly. As of today, we are producing almost 190 items… (full range – IF)”, – said Choban.
He noted that before the war, the company formed buffer stocks and dispersed them throughout the country, which allowed for a quick recovery in distribution. “That’s something we did ahead of time as a company, understanding the risks that there could be an escalation in 2022, and we did take almost everything we could take out to the regions and kept it there until a certain time. And that allowed us to resume distribution almost immediately after we de-occupied the region,” the director of logistics for Coca-Cola HBS pointed out.
The company continues to import carbon dioxide (CO2) used to make carbonated beverages from abroad, as its own combined heat and power (CHP) production is still in the process of recovery, the company said in a presentation.
“In May 2022, the lines at the plant were restarted, we started doing distribution, but there was nowhere to get CO2, we were importing CO2 from overseas. And now we continue to import. Now it is cheaper to bring it from abroad than to produce it in Ukraine,” said Choban.
According to him, the company employs 1.6 thousand people, and there have been no layoffs since 2022.
As reported, in connection with the Russian aggression against Ukraine, March 8, Coca-Cola announced the suspension of business in Russia, where it owns ten plants for the production of soft drinks and juices.
Coca-Cola Beverages Ukraine, Coca-Cola’s official bottler in Ukraine, produces a wide range of soft drinks in different categories – sweet fizzy drinks, juices, water, energy drinks and iced teas.
The company’s first factory in Ukraine was opened in Lviv. Now the company owns one plant in the village Bolshaya Dymerka, Kyiv region, which began operation in 1998 and was damaged by Russian occupation troops on March 10, 2022. Production at it was temporarily suspended.
