Coca-Cola European Partners to invest over EUR 500 million in 2019 
to deliver world class customer service

Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) will invest over EUR 500 million in 2019, as part of an ongoing multi-year EUR 1.5 billion investment programme.

The announcement was made at CAGNY Conference for investors in Miami. The programme focuses on delivering more for our customers by investing in new technology, supply chain capabilities and coolers.

Damian Gammell, Chief Executive Officer at Coca-Cola European Partners, said: “We’re investing in key areas of the business to make it easier for customers to do business with us, and to offer consumers a wider range of great products. Last year our targeted investment programme helped to create EUR 8.7 billion in value for customers – nearly EUR 600 million more than 2017.”

Next generation digital solutions

Making it easier for customers to do business with us by developing and investing in new digital solutions. Highlights include:

• Mobile sales tools which not only improve the customer experience but also increase productivity and optimise sell time
• New business analytics capabilities to improve promotions and forecasting with customers
• Expanding digital services for customers, such as Kollex, a recently established digital joint venture for the beverage wholesale trade and the away-from-home market in Germany

Boosting capabilities across our supply chain

Increasing capacity and capabilities to service our customers quickly and easily, and support our growing portfolio of drinks sustainably. Highlights include:

• New manufacturing lines in Halle, Mannheim, Barcelona, Seville, Ghent and Wakefield to provide consumers with a greater choice of products and packs
• Increasing the amount of recycled plastic in our products, such as the ongoing work with Ioniqa to transform hard to recycle plastic waste into high quality, food-grade PET
• Increasing capacity for refillable glass bottles and trialling new routes to market, such as our new partnership with Loop and Carrefour in France for returnable and refillable glass

Increasing product availability

Expand cold drink equipment, making it easier for consumers to find our drinks on the go. Highlights include:

• Placing 69,000 more coolers in customers’ outlets in 2019
• Better outlet targeting and segmentation through an expanded range of cooler sizes and types

CCEP Ventures

At CAGNY Conference, CCEP also announced the creation of an innovation investment programme.

The programme – CCEP Ventures – will focus solutions across customer experience and support, logistics and distribution, future packaging design and technology, prediction and pricing analytics

On the launch of CCEP Ventures, Mr Gammell said: “Our business faces future disruptive trends that need innovative solutions and we need to adapt and learn quickly. CCEP Ventures will help us bring the best minds and ideas from the outside world into our business. It will help us find, fund and foster new solutions and scale with speed.”