Renato Beritic: We will invest BGN 17 million in our plants in Kostinbrod and Bankya in 2023

We also plan to increase the team, and the new positions will be mainly in production and logistics – the Supply Chain director of Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria shared before Economy.bg

Renato, you are taking the position of Supply Chain Director for Bulgaria in a rather challenging period for business and people worldwide. What is your strategy for dealing with these challenges?

All of us are always facing bigger or smaller challenges, but fortunately our team in Bulgaria is currently maintaining turnover levels that are slightly lower than before the pandemic, and I believe that it is the people who are the key ingredient in any business's recipe for success.

I am fortunate to inherit an experienced, engaged, and successfully proven team of professionals in various fields. We plan to invest in developing their expertise over the long term to ensure it reaches its full potential. With this in mind, there is also a special position in our structure that focuses on the continuous development of skills and knowledge.

The fact that the team in Bulgaria has been recognized as the best in supply chain performance for 2021 in the Coca-Cola HBC Group of 29 countries is just further proof of their achievements to date.

I would like to thank them for their warm welcome and I am confident that we will continue to be flexible in terms of work and distribution of responsibilities so that together we can have the necessary freedom to achieve our common goals and feel satisfied with the results.

What is the total amount of investment in the plants so far and do you plan to increase the investment?

Over the past years, Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria has successfully implemented not one or two significant projects – I can boldly call our production center in Kostinbrod “the mega-plant of the future”. Since its establishment, the investments in it have been over BGN 160 million, and its territory already exceeds 150 acres. The implemented infrastructure projects in the last 4 years’ worth nearly BGN 40 million, including a new warehouse, a high-tech line of a new generation and others, are also a reason for pride and satisfaction. At the same time, our production center in Bankya can already boast 100% green electricity consumption, and our plant in Kostinbrod is on the same track. We are also proud of the innovations introduced, as well as the automation of key processes – the so-called vision picking (which supports the activities of our colleagues in the warehouses), equipment for moving goods, real-time visibility of the distribution process and many others.

Of course, we will not stop here – in the new year 2023 we have no less ambitious plans, with which we will implement innovations and investments worth over 17 million BGN.

Do you plan to grow your team and if so – what specialists do you want to hire more?

Yes, we are planning to grow our team due to the planned higher volume of production in 2023. The new positions will be mainly in production and logistics and will be announced further.

The entire interview with Renato Beritic can be found on the Economy.bg website.