Leading food and beverage company PepsiCo has opened its first innovation facility in the Middle East in Dubai Biotechnology and Research Park (DuBiotech), UAE.

The facility will serve as a hub of new products and flavours innovations for PepsiCo’s businesses across the region, said a statement.  

The new facility is equipped with an advanced culinary centre and test laboratories focused on developing and tailoring PepsiCo food and beverage brands for distinct, locally relevant taste preferences throughout the region. 

It will allow researchers to quickly test new product ideas and support efforts to significantly accelerate the pace of PepsiCo’s innovation across the region.

It has been designed to unlock new opportunities for breakthrough innovation across the company’s diverse portfolio of complementary brands and enable greater speed and efficiency throughout the entire research and development (R&D) and innovation process.  

The facility will also work collaboratively with other PepsiCo R&D locations around the world to share insights and best practices.

Omar Farid, president for Middle East and Africa, said: “Innovation has always fuelled PepsiCo’s growth engine and enabled us to build a portfolio of great-tasting, convenient food and beverage brands that are loved by consumers around the globe.

“The Dubai facility is a game-changer for our business that we anticipate will fast forward our innovation process throughout the entire region.”   

Marwan Adbulaziz, executive director of the Dubai Biotechnology and Research Park (DuBiotech), who attended the opening event, said: “PepsiCo is one of the world’s most successful food and beverage companies in the world, and we’re proud that they are opening their facility in the Nucleotide Lab Complex of DuBiotech. Multinational companies are playing an important role in Dubai’s continued development, and we look forward to having PepsiCo as part of the fabric of the Middle East for many years to come.”

PepsiCo has a strong portfolio of global food and beverage brands that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales.

A key focus of the PepsiCo Middle East Innovation centre will be tailoring these brands for regional consumer taste preferences and developing locally relevant product innovations.  

The Middle East is a key component of PepsiCo’s overall plan to drive growth in emerging and developing markets globally, said the statement.

PepsiCo nearly tripled its business in emerging and developing markets from $8 billion in annual net revenue in 2006 to $23 billion in 2013, it added. - TradeArabia News Service