VENTURES AFRICA – Sidel, an international manufacturer of liquid packaging solutions, has won another contract with Moha Soft Drinks industry S.C., for the installation of a production line for Moha’s Greenfield site in Ethiopia.

The plant at Mekele, the capital city of the Regional Government of Tigraye, is continuing the success achieved by Moha at its other plants.

The new plant, sited around 780 kilometres north of the capital Addis Ababa, is where the Pepsi bottler aims to meet the rising demand with the new Sidel line for carbonated soft drinks (CSD) and water.

Previously, supply to the region had necessitated the trucking of products from Addis Ababa.  The new line will be mostly producing carbonated soft drinks at a rate of 36,000 returnable glass bottles (RGB) per hour.

“We are proud and happy to be working with Moha Soft Drinks once again.  Moha is highly respected within the Pepsi world and the soft drinks industry in general,” said Clive Smith, Sidel Zone Vice President for GMEA (Greater Middle East and Africa).

Moha Soft Drinks Industry S.C, was founded in 1996, following the acquisition of four state-owned Pepsi plants by Saudi Arabian-Ethiopian business magnate and the largest foreign investor in Ethiopia, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al Amoudi and his wife.

The company is arguably the leading producer of CSDs in Ethiopia and is the principal supplier of Pepsi Cola products throughout the country, currently responsible for around half of the overall national production of over 40 million crates.

It bottles products for several top soft drinks companies including, Pepsi Cola, Mirinda Orange, 7-Up, Mirinda Tonic, Mirinda Apple and Kool  bottled water products.