PepsiCo will expand SodaStream plant in southern Israel

An employee sorts carbonator bottles while working at the SodaStream factory in the West Bank (photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
An employee sorts carbonator bottles while working at the SodaStream factory in the West Bank
(photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)

JERUSALEM — PepsiCo, which acquired the Israeli home soda maker manufacturer SodaStream last year, is planning to expand the company’s plant in southern Israel.

The $92 million expansion will enable the plant to hire 1,000 more workers.

Located in an industrial park near Rahat, the plant currently employs 1,500 people. Bedouin Arabs from the surrounding area make up one-third of the workforce. Seventy-four of the employees are West Bank Palestinians who worked at SodaStream when the factory was based in the West Bank. It closed under international pressure.

PepsiCo acquired SodaStream for $3.2 billion in August 2018.