PepsiCo, which acquired the Israeli home soda maker manufacturer SodaStream last year, is planning to expand the company’s plant in southern Israel.
The $92 million expansion will enable the plant to hire 1,000 more workers.
Located in an industrial park near Rahat, the plant currently employs 1,500 people. Bedouin Arabs from the surrounding area make up one-third of the workforce. Seventy-four of the employees are Palestinian Authority Arabs who worked at SodaStream when the factory was based in Judea and Samaria. It closed under international pressure from the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
PepsiCo acquired SodaStream for $3.2 billion in August 2018.