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Bottlers Seek Mega Sites

The beverage sector, in contrast to packaged food, is fizzy, with new and far larger bottling plants cropping up globally. "There has been a five-year trend, which has picked up in the last year or so, of bottlers building mega-plants. One company we're working with is contemplating a plant 400 percent larger than any ever built before," says Ward.

Water availability becomes one of the key factors in locating a beverage plant. "It's not just the water that goes into the bottles, but the washdown and clean-up, which creates waste water," explains Ward. "One huge deal fell apart with a major soft drinks bottler over whether the company or the municipality would treat the waste water from the proposed new plant."

According to Ward, Coca-Cola's huge new bottling plant currently under construction in Ballina, County, Mayo, Ireland, went ahead because the government agreed not only to build, but to operate a dedicated water treatment plant. The new $160 million facility will produce concentrate to supply bottlers in 75 countries across four continents. SS