Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has announced its plans to invest an additional $105.5 million in developing a new Warmfill Line at its Moorabbin plant in Victoria. Expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2026, the bottling line will be capable of delivering 17.8 million unit cases of Powerade and Fuze Tea beverages annually.
“This investment is an exciting milestone for CCEP as the business prepares for accelerated growth, particularly in the sporting beverage category,” said Orlando Rodriguez, Managing Director at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Australia.
“Establishing and expanding local operations in Moorabbin brings us closer to the end-consumer, enabling us to produce, distribute and sell beverages to more customers with greater efficiency and more sustainably.”
The new Warmfill Line will still be under construction as the termination of the 16 year CCEP and Beam Suntory partnership comes into effect in the second half of 2025. Already this year, CCEP has sold its equity stake in Feral Brewing Co’s Bassendean production facilities to Beerfarm and has announced it will no longer handle the distribution and sales of Rekorderlig Cider in Australia.
“As CCEP continues to align as a bottler of our brand partner, The Coca-Cola Company, the sale of Feral Brewing Company will ensure Feral is ideally positioned for the next exciting phase of growth, while enabling us to focus on our core NARTD portfolio,” said Orlando in May.
After next year’s separation with Beam Suntory, CCEP’s Licensed portfolio will be reduced to Rum Co. of Fiji – which Coca-Cola Amatil acquired from Foster’s in 2012 prior to the formation of CCEP in 2021 – and the Australian Bitters Company.
CCEP says it is anticipating strong growth for its Powerade and Fuze Tea beverages. In Australia this year, the Energy and Sports Drinks market is projected to generate revenue of $4.9 billion, and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 4.53% up to 2027. Powerade is already established as the market leader and accounts for approximately half of the category’s sales by both value and volume.
“Investing in the sports category is central to our overarching growth ambitions and reflects our strong belief in this sector,” said Orlando.
CCEP’s new development in Victoria includes the construction of a 4,2000 square metre manufacturing hall to be installed with a high-speed 640 bottle per minute Nitro-Warmfill line. It is estimated that the new line will reduce inter-business transportation of raw materials and final products by 2.9 million kilometres annually, cutting annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 3,785 tonnes.
Ahead of next year’s separation between CCEP and Beam Suntory, Beam Suntory has partnered with non-alc Frucor Suntory to launch Suntory Oceania, a new $3 billion multi-beverage operation that is on track to become the fourth largest beverage group in Australia and New Zealand by the time of launch.
Beam Suntory is currently constructing a $400 million multi-beverage facility in Ipswich, Queensland, which, according to Chief Supply Chain Officer Ian Roberts “is the largest single FMCG investment in Australia in over a decade.” It is also currently recruiting nationally across a broad range of positions.
To begin with, production at its Ipswich facility will focus on non-alcoholic beverages, including Australia’s number one energy drink V Energy. Following this, alcohol production will commence in 2025 with RTDs such as Suntory -196, Canadian Club & Dry, and Jim Beam White Label Bourbon & Cola.
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