Absolut capacity
Absolut Vodka liquor brand. The move reiterates the company's
success and the high demand for the drink which is the third
largest international spirits drink.
In 2003 shipments of Absolut vodka from Ahus harbor in Sweden increased by 8 per cent to 72.5 million litres. Production, the company claims, is increasingly differentiated as new flavours and bottle types have been released recently. And it is this innovation that has been driving the demand for the brand.
The sites aim is to boost production, as Krister Asplund, manager of the Ahus plant explained:
"To begin with we will install one bottling line in the new satelite facility, although it is prepared for a further line. We will also need to refit the existing plant in central Ahus in a few years, so we will need bottling resources at another location in the meantime."
V&S will invest 360 SEK million in the new plant. In recent years the company has invested a similar sum in its distillation plant in Nobbelov which will be able to start production next year.
The company claims that expansion in central Ahus has been fully exploited and the new site will be opened outside the city centre.
The new plant outside the city will be separate from the V&S sites that currently run in Sweden, it will be approximately 3 km from the existing plant and will be finished in 2007, the company predicts. The plant will bottle Absolut vodka and Absolut citron drinks.
