COCA-COLA HELLENIC BOTTLING CO SA 
By Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, today visited the Coca-Cola Hellenic bottling plant in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, to tour the recently opened factory and to officially open the new Coca-Cola Visitors Centre.
Her Majesty The Queen visits new Coca-Cola Hellenic bottling plant (Photo: Business Wire)
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were greeted by Mr. George David OBE, Chairman of the Coca-Cola Hellenic Group, before touring the 50,000 square metre manufacturing, bottling and warehousing facility, which handles all Coca-Cola production for the island of Ireland.
The facility represents an investment of £93m and provides employment for approximately 600 people directly, and an estimated 6,000 people indirectly in the supply chain. The state-of-the-art plant is capable of producing 250,000 cases of beverages each day and includes an energy-efficient Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant to reduce CO2 emissions in production by 66%, as well as a computer- controlled automatic warehousing system.
Mr. David commented, ?Today's visit by The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh marks the importance of the contribution of business to society through continued investment; wealth creation in the community; job creation; technical innovation; social and community enrichment; and environmental progress and responsibility. This plant says it all.?
Her Majesty and His Royal Highness showed a keen interest in the company's operations stopping at many places to enquire about the manufacturing process with local workers. One of these was the automated warehousing system, which holds twice as much stock compared to traditional methods, saving on energy, transport and emissions, while allowing the company to deliver a speedy high quality service.
Another point of interest at the plant was the CHP facility; the fourth of 20 to be installed across the 28 countries in which the Coca-Cola Hellenic Group operates. When the full project is completed it will result in savings of more than quarter of a million tons of CO2 emissions from production.
Notes to Editors
About the Coca-Cola Hellenic Knockmore Hill plant
The Knockmore Hill plant in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, was officially opened on 8 September 2010. All production and bottling operations for the island take place at this 45-acre site.
The total value of the investment made by the Coca-Cola Hellenic Group in Knockmore Hill is £93.5m. Funding of £6.75m towards the investment was provided by Invest Northern Ireland.
The plant comprises nine production lines and has the capacity to produce 250,000 cases of beverages per day. It is operational 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. This facilitates the production of Coca-Cola Hellenic's varied portfolio of products, in the island of Ireland, from core brands such as Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite, to Deep RiverRock water, which is bottled locally at its source in Lisburn and is Northern Ireland's leading water brand.
The on-site CHP plant supplies highly efficient, clean electricity, steam to produce hot water for production, sanitation and all other purposes, chilled water for refrigeration and air conditioning, and CO2 needed for the company's soft drink production process. Excess clean electricity is sold to the national grid. This innovative quad-generation technology used was pioneered by Coca-Cola Hellenic in partnership with ContourGlobal, a leading international company specialising in the development of efficient energy solutions.
About Coca-Cola Hellenic
Coca-Cola Hellenic is one of the world's largest bottlers of products of The Coca-Cola Company with sales of more than two billion unit cases, and 560 million customers buying its products annually. The company offers a diverse range of ready-to-drink non-alcoholic beverages in the sparkling, juice, juice drinks, water, sport, energy, tea and coffee categories. Coca-Cola Hellenic is committed to promoting sustainable development in order to create value for its business and for society. This includes providing products that meet the beverage needs of consumers, fostering an open and inclusive work environment and conducting business in ways that protect and preserve the environment and contribute to the socio-economic development of our local communities.
Coca-Cola Hellenic?s shares are listed on the Athens Exchange (ATHEX: EEEK), with a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: CCB). Coca-Cola Hellenic's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CCH). Coca-Cola Hellenic is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability and FTSE4Good Indexes.
Further Information
For more information on Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company Ireland, its products, people and commitment to sustainable business please visit www.coca-colahellenic.com.
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College Hill:
Richard Coleman, +44(0)20 7866 7891
richard.coleman@collegehill.com
