Employees at a SodaStream factory. Photo: Reuters.

JNS.org – PepsiCo, which acquired Israeli home beverage-maker SodaStream last year, is planning to expand the company’s plant in southern Israel, Globes reported on Sunday.

PepsiCo will invest $92.5 million in the expansion of SodaStream’s plant in the Idan HaNegev Industrial Park near the Bedouin town of Rahat in southern Israel. The plant currently has 1,500 employees and will hire 1,000 more workers for the expansion.

Bedouin Arabs from the nearby area make up about one-third of the plant’s workforce, and many of the rest of the employees are Palestinian Arabs who worked at SodaStream when the factory was based in the West Bank before it closed due to international pressure.

PepsiCo acquired SodaStream for $3.2 billion in August 2018.

SodaStream has applied for government aid for its investment under the law for the Encouragement of Capital Investment. The company could get an NIS 80 million grant ($23 million)—20 percent of the investment, plus tax benefits, according to Globes.

The Economy and Industry Ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Israel Tax Authority will hold a meeting in December to discuss the company’s request. Government sources said that the process of granting approval would be completed by the end of the year.