Varun Beverages gains 3% as it expands snack portfolio in Zimbabwe, Zambia

In a filing to the stock exchanges on July 15, the company said that to further strengthen its relationship with PepsiCo and expand its footprint in the snacks portfolio, it has signed an exclusive snacks franchising deal with Premier Nutrition Trading LLC, Dubai, a PepsiCo subsidiary. The PepsiCo bottler said that the deal has been signed through its subsidiaries—Varun Foods Zimbabwe Pvt Ltd and Varun Beverages Zambia Ltd.

Under the new deal, the company will manufacture, distribute, and sell ‘Simba Munchiez’ in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Varun Beverages shares opened lower at ₹1,580 apiece on the NSE and rallied as much as 3% to hit an intraday high of ₹1,633 apiece. However, the stock pared early gains and closed 2.56% higher at ₹1,625 apiece.

The company informed the bourses that the estimated investment in the manufacturing facility would be around ₹60 crore, for an annual capacity of 5,000 MT, for manufacturing a range of snacks under the Simba Munchiez brand at each location of Zimbabwe and Zambia. Once the respective manufacturing facilities come into operation, the deal will be effective from on or before October 1, 2025, for Zimbabwe and April 1, 2026, for Zambia.

The company said the snack food markets in Zimbabwe and Zambia are estimated to be ₹17.7 crore and ₹15.6 crore, respectively.

Varun Beverages subsidiaries shall leverage their distribution prowess to introduce the new affordable range of snack products from PepsiCo.

Varun Beverages produces and distributes a wide range of carbonated soft drinks as well as a large selection of non-carbonated beverages, including packaged drinking water. It is the largest bottler of PepsiCo outside the United States. The company has also been granted the franchise for various PepsiCo products for Nepal, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Zambia, and Zimbabwe territories.