PepsiCo Dammam

Bolidt News

PepsiCo Dammam

Recently the American multinational PepsiCo has opened its fifteenth manufacturing facility in the Middle East. The plant located in Dammam, Saudi Arabia covers 55,000 square meters and is going to produce well known snacks, including Lay’s potato chips. PepsiCo is one of the biggest manufacturers in the international food industry, with this region being an important and previously untapped market. Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, called the region “A dynamic market which is essential for the future of the company”. The construction of the plant is, of course, subject to strict requirements, particularly in the area of safety and hygiene. As a result PepsiCo appointed Bolidt for the development and application of synthetic flooring in this new factory.

Safety and hygiene: #1 priority

Due to PepsiCo’s factory working with different materials, such as natural and vegetable fats, oils, acids, juices and dyes, the workplace can become very slippery when these materials are spilled. To protect employees from unsafe situations, a new floor system had to be implemented to guard against any slips.

During the construction the plant not only demanded high levels of hygiene- naturally due to handling food- but also high safety standards. In the food industry this can often prove to be easier said than done. Non-slip flooring can be difficult to keep clean. In a variation of wet and dry circumstances the floor system had to keep the non-slip qualities without causing detriment to hygiene.

To develop such a floor system, that is not only anti-slip but guarantees optimum hygiene proved to be a serious challenge. PepsiCo was determined to press on with the construction of the plant finding partners that could overcome the challenges.

Bolidt had previously worked alongside PepsiCo, on their plants in Turkey and Egypt, and had already created a solution for the problem, which met all the requirements. As a result Bolidt was chosen as the preferred supplier once again.

Development and application of Bolidtop 700^® MRF

In the search for a flooring system that contributes to a safe working environment and that is safe and easy to clean, the choice fell on Bolidtop 700^® MRF. Bolidt has used this system in the food industry for many years, and with great success. MRF is a special, rougher version of Bolidtop 700^®, which meets all the requirements in terms of safety, hygiene and HACCP. It maintains all the important qualities of the base system Bolidtop 700^®, namely strong shock and impact resistance and durability.

The Bolidtop 700^® MRF system was developed in Bolidt’s laboratory to meet HACCP requirements as well as slip resistance.

Specialised application teams of the company, who can meet any requirements, anywhere in the world, carried out the application and installation at the Dammam plant. All this combined allowed Bolidt to deliver a complete solution for PepsiCo in the new Dammam factory.

Bolidt in the Middle East

The plant in Saudi Arabia is the sixth PepsiCo plant in the region where Bolidt has installed the rough version of the Bolidtop 700^® system. Previously the company had provided the flooring for other factories in Egypt, Iraq and Turkey. The plants in Cairo (Egypt) and Tarsus (Turkey) are both PepsiCo factories that have safe and hygienic flooring and Dammam, Saudi Arabia can now be added to the list of successful projects.