PepsiCo is investing $13m in a new production line at a soft drinks factory in Romania.

The food and beverage giant has announced plans to “install a modern, fully-automated production line” at its facility in Dragomirești in the north of the country.

PepsiCo is aiming to increase production capacity at the site, which makes brands including Pepsi, 7Up and Mirinda to “800m litres per year”.

The new line can produce up to 1m bottles per day, which is 60% more beverages per unit than “a conventional production line”, a PepsiCo spokesperson told Just Drinks.

The investment will include the “construction of a fully automated warehouse”, extending over 15,000 square metres, the company added in a statement setting out its plans.

The move is an “important element” of the company’s “five-year development plan” for the site, which will see it invest a total of $40m.

“This investment will help us strengthen our position as a regional production and distribution hub for central and south-eastern Europe,” Radu Berevoescu, general manager and senior commercial director of PepsiCo’s East Balkans business unit.

The Dragomirești facility supplies Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Ukraine, Hungary, Cyprus and Moldova.

According to the Pepsi Max maker, a “fully automated process, from bottling to loading onto trucks” will eliminate “the need for human intervention” in the work process of the new line.

Berevoescu added: “The new line can produce approximately 1 million bottles per day, simultaneously consuming 30% less energy than a conventional line. The high level of automation allows our employees to focus on improving processes, professional and personal development, as well as the continuous simplification of operations.”

PepsiCo has two factories in Romania: the beverage plant in Dragomirești and Star Foods Snacks in Popești-Leordeni.

The factory in Popești-Leordeni serves the same countries as the Dragomirești site, plus markets including Moldova, Ukraine, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. It produces Lay’s potato chips, Doritos, Lay’s Oven Baked and a local brand, Star.