Dubai Refreshments Co. invests Dh14 Million on new Sharjah hub

The total built-up area of the Sharjah hub is 140,000 square feet, which includes a custom made 35,000 square feet warehouse , 40,000 square feet asphalted loading and parking bay, and 4,000 square feet office block, all completed within a remarkable time span of five weeks as Phase I of the project. The facility can take in stocks of over 120,000 cases of beverages, which will be distributed by up to 60 trucks.

That apart, there is also an a two-storey, 20,000 square feet staff quarters for the company's 180-strong personnel servicing the Emirate. Full care has been given to the welfare of the employees with the provisioning of a mosque and separate facilities for basketball and football.

"The overall project, excluding the accommodation block, was completed in a record period of five months by Heraat Contracting," confirmed Hesham Mandeel, DRC's project manager for the development. Investments by Dubai Refreshments Co. weighed in at a substantial Dh14 million.

"We are extremely delighted that the project could be finished in such a compressed time frame of five months," said Alan Salem, general manager of Dubai Refreshments Co. "With the summer on, the Sharjah base will give us a significant edge in bringing us, and our products, closer to our valued stockists and thereon to our customers at a crucial period when beverage consumption in the UAE reaches new highs.

"It has always been our corporate endeavour to go that extra mile to achieve this, and the latest investments in Sharjah reinforce this commitment."

Apart from Sharjah, the new facility will also serve the Ajman market. The base will handle the full portfolio of PepsiCo beverages, apart from the mainstream brands - Pepsi, 7 Up, Mountain Dew and Mirinda this will also include 'Aquafina', the bottled water brand owned by Pepsi and for which Dubai Refreshments Co. has the rights for the entire UAE.

Another distribution and logistics facility owned by Dubai Refreshments Co. in Ras Al Khaimah services the requirements of the rest of the Northern Emirates. The requirements for the Dubai market are presently handled from the company's factory and head office located on Sheikh Zayed Road, while the Khorfakkan depot serves the east coast.

"In a high volume business as ours, inventory management and route mobilisation hold the key to effectively grow our share of the market. The Sharjah facility comes fully integrated into our already established network of distribution operations across the UAE, and will play a vital role in the future," said Salem. "The UAE market can expect further fine-tuning of our operations as we go along, and we are already working on improved routing operations from our warehouse in Ras Al Khaimah to serve the needs of the Northern Emirates."

Of the brands within the Dubai Refreshments Co. portfolio, Pepsi currently commands a two thirds share of the carbonated drinks segment in the UAE, while the recently launched Aquafina has become the fastest growing bottled water brand in the UAE, and is currently ranked No. 4 in Dubai and Sharjah. The Sharjah base will also come in handy as the company is looking at various options to expand the portfolio further in other categories of the beverages market.