Varun Beverages is buying a dairy, juice and packaged water business in Kenya, giving Ravi Jaipuria’s bottling group an established production base in Nakuru as beverage capital moves into the country.
Varun Beverages has agreed to pay $32 million for the value-added dairy beverages, juice and packaged drinking water business of Devyani Food Industries Kenya. The acquisition will be completed through VBL Industries Kenya, Varun’s wholly owned subsidiary. The transaction covers the business as a going concern and its associated manufacturing assets, with completion expected by August 1, subject to agreed conditions.
The asset at the centre of the deal is a 52-acre manufacturing site in Nakuru with about 17,500 square metres of built-up space. The facility produces dairy beverages, juices and packaged water and includes water treatment and other production utilities.
Varun is buying operating capacity rather than waiting to build it. That shortens the route from capital deployment to production and gives the company infrastructure outside its core carbonated soft drinks business. It also follows Varun’s wider African expansion, including a $40 million juice, dairy blend and snacks complex in Zimbabwe covered by Drinkabl.media in May.
PepsiCo’s bottler is gaining more room to move
The Kenya purchase also lands weeks after Varun revised its India bottling relationship with PepsiCo. The new agreement extends its exclusive India bottling and trademark licence to April 30, 2049 and removes a restriction that had prevented the company from pursuing non-PepsiCo operations.
The Nakuru categories matter in that context. Dairy beverages, juice and water give Varun production exposure beyond cola, while the acquired plant provides an existing base for its Kenya operations.
For PepsiCo, Varun’s deeper manufacturing position adds another experienced bottling operator to the Kenyan production system. The commercial test will be how the Nakuru asset is used across product categories and distribution channels after the transfer closes.
Kenya’s drinks market is attracting bigger cheques
Varun is not arriving alone. Tanzanian businessman Mohammed Dewji’s MeTL Group is planning a $50 million soft drinks plant in Mombasa, where Mo Cola, Mo Xtra and Mo Malto are expected to be produced. Dewji has said he intends to compete on price.
Drinkabl.media’s earlier coverage traced the pricing threat behind that investment: MeTL’s strategy in Tanzania was built around undercutting established soft drinks brands before taking the model into Kenya.
The pressure is moving towards manufacturing and route-to-market. Varun now has a large Nakuru facility, while MeTL is preparing new capacity in Mombasa.
Varun’s next decision comes after the acquisition closes. How quickly it loads the Nakuru plant, which categories receive capital first and how those products move through Kenya’s retail network will determine whether the $32 million purchase becomes a regional production base or remains a domestic capacity play.
READ MORE
- East Africa’s Richest Billionaire Takes on Coca-Cola and Pepsi with $50 Million Kenya Plant
- Varun Beverages opens $40 million Cheetos and juice complex in Zimbabwe, eyes $650 million Southern Africa push
