France: Heineken to invest EUR28.9 mln in its Marseilles facility

Heineken is to invest EUR28.9 mln (USD32.7 mln) on increasing the production capacity at one of its French facilities, as demand for its Desperados Tequila-flavoured beer continues to raise in the country.

The investment in the La Valentina plant in Marseilles will focus primarily on raising production capacity at the site by 35%, the equivalent of 450,000 hl per year. Desperados will also be brewed at the southern France facility for the first time, once the work has completed.

Included in the investment is the installation of a biogas unit to help improve energy efficiency and provide cleaner fuel. Work will begin on the extension early next year and is scheduled to take 12 months to complete.

The increase in capacity will lead to the creation of ten jobs, taking the brewery�s total workforce to more than 140, after ten more new posts were added earlier this year.

Heineken has invested just over EUR24 mln at the Marseilles plant since 2010. Early last year, the group said it would spend EUR9.3 mln on raising production at one of its two other French facilities, in Schiltigheim, near Strasbourg. The other brewery is in Mos-en-Baroeul in the north.