PepsiCo is investing around 12 billion rubles ($160m) to construct the facility – its third snacks factory in Russia – which will have the capacity to produce over 60,000 tons of Lay’s potato chips and sukhariki (a traditional Russian 'crouton' snack, produced under the Khrustteam brand) annually.
According to Neil Starrock, president of PepsiCo Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia, the first two production lines are expected to open at the end of 2021.
The company has also launched an agricultural programme in the region, aimed at providing the factory with local potatoes. Several farms are already engaged in test cultivation of a new variety of potato, which must meet ‘PepsiCo’s strict requirements’.
The region’s agriculture minister Yevgeny Leschenko told reporters the factory will need 176,000 tonnes of potatoes annually.
A warehouse with capacity to store 50,000 tonnes of potatoes – an essential component of the plant due to the harsh weather conditions in Siberia – is scheduled for completion in August 2021.
“It is very important for the Government of the Novosibirsk region that such sites that are being created in the region are in demand by business and continue to be actively developed. The construction of the plant will give another impetus to the development of the economy,” added Novosibirsk Region Governor Andrei Travnikov at the foundation stone laying ceremony.