The Minute Maid Company is to build a new 620,000-square-foot non-carbonated beverage production plant in Auburndale, Florida.
The Minute Maid Company is an operating division of The Coca-Cola Company and the flagship of its worldwide fruit beverage business.
The announcement follows an agreement with the city of Auburndale to purchase 60 acres within the city limits.
The Minute Maid Company plans to invest about $130 million (€131m) in construction and equipment for the new plant. Site preparation is scheduled to begin in the next two weeks, with groundbreaking to follow about two weeks later. The plant is expected to be operational in March 2003, and will eventually employ about 300 people.
"We are very pleased to announce this new plant in Auburndale," said Don Knauss, president and CEO of Minute Maid North America. "It's ideally located to support our growing juice and juice drinks business, and also will provide additional capacity for non-carbonated beverages sold through the Coca-Cola bottler system."
The Minute Maid Company currently operates a facility in Apopka, Florida, and has production plants in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas, as well as two plants in Canada.