PepsiCo's North American drinks division has opened a new warehouse and distribution centre in Smyrna, Tennessee.
The food and beverage giant said the distribution site is its second largest in the country and largest in the southeast.
“We are thrilled to expand into Smyrna as our business continues to grow in the Greater Nashville region. With our rich history in the state of Tennessee, we're so proud to invest in this growing community and support its world-class hospitality scene, vibrant culture, and strong business footprint,” PBNA south division president Heather Hoytink said in a statement.
The circa 400,000 square-foot Smyrna site has office spaces and a climate-controlled warehouse.
Just Drinks has asked PepsiCo to confirm how much the group invested into the site.
“The expansion in Smyrna enables PBNA to meet customer demands more efficiently, positioning the company for continued success in the growing Greater Nashville area – including in Rutherford County, the fastest growing county in Tennessee for the last eight years,” a PepsiCo spokesperson said.
“The facility has the capacity to distribute 20 million cases of PepsiCo beverages annually, including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, bubly, Gatorade, and Rockstar, serving 14 counties in the Nashville metropolitan area.”
Last month, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said that the US consumer was showing signs of being “much more price conscious” and that demand for the group's products had been suffering after years of price hikes.
The Mountain Dew owner reported that its North America division saw volumes fall 3% year-on-year in the second quarter as a result of faltering demand.
The PepsiCo chief executive stressed the US consumer’s hunt for “value” is the “problem to address”.
He said: “I think once we address that situation, we will be back in growth, and we feel pretty good about the tools and the resources we have and the actions that we’re taking and we’re quite encouraged by [the] recent performance of the business.”
In the second quarter, the company generated organic revenue growth of 1.9% to $22.5bn, while operating profit jumped year-on-year from $3.66bn to $4.05bn.
The company’s net income rose from $2.75bn in the second quarter of 2023 to $3.08bn this time around.
