Danone North America, Broomfield, Colo., announced it will invest as much as $65 million during the next two years to create a new bottle production line in Jacksonville, Fla. The investment will support Danone North America’s long-term growth strategy and will deliver key benefits across the U.S. business, including advancing operational excellence, enabling flexibility in bottle design, accelerating the company's sustainability goals, and driving cost efficiencies, it notes.

“We are delighted to announce this investment in our North American business, which will allow us to capitalize on consumer demand in key beverage categories including coffee creamers, plant-based creamers, and ready-to-drink coffee, while also supporting our long-term growth agenda,” said Shane Grant, group deputy CEO and CEO Americas, in a statement. “This investment will help us keep our products on our customers' shelves and give more American consumers the Danone products they love.”

This multi-million-dollar investment will increase production of several of Danone’s coffee and creamer brands in the U.S., including International Delight, Silk and SToK. It also serves to meet consumer demand in these categories while supporting the company’s sustainability goal by reducing overall water consumption, decreasing carbon emissions and accelerating the company's goal of packaging circularity.

The expansion also will create as many as 40 new full-time jobs with competitive wages and benefits, it says. New employees will be eligible for Danone North America’s parental bonding leave policy, enabling all manufacturing employees with one year of tenure to take up to 18 weeks of paid time off after the birth or adoption of a child.

Mike Sloboda, Danone North America’s chief operations officer commented: “We are thrilled to be investing in the people and economy of Jacksonville, creating 40 new jobs in addition to supporting our approximately 110 existing employees, all with competitive wages and benefits. This investment will allow us to better serve our customers and operate our business in an even more efficient and sustainable way.”