Indian billionaire Ravi Jaipuria's Varun Beverages opens $40 million manufacturing complex in Zimbabwe

Indian billionaire Ravi Jaipuria commissioned a $40 million manufacturing complex in Harare this week through his company Varun Beverages, adding a Cheetos snacks plant and a juice and dairy blending facility to an operation that has grown substantially since entering Zimbabwe eight years ago.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa presided over the launch. Varun Beverages Zimbabwe, the world's second-largest PepsiCo franchisee outside the United States, officially commissioned the new Cheetos manufacturing facility, marking a shift from importing the snack brand to producing it domestically. The 2 projects together account for the $40 million investment figure.

The scale of Varun's Zimbabwe footprint reflects how much the company has built since it arrived. Eight years ago, the company had a single beverage production line turning out 10 million bottles per month. Today, the Harare hub runs 6 lines with a combined capacity of nearly 120 million bottles monthly, directly employing 2,000 people and supporting more than 13,000 indirect livelihoods across logistics, retail, and farming.

Mnangagwa welcomed the investment directly. "The added $20 million investment by Varun Beverages marks industrial diversification, creation of employment opportunities for our people and manufacturing sector integration into both regional and global value chains," he said at the launch.

Zimbabwe's Industry Minister Nqobizitha Ndlovu said grain farmers, dairy producers, and fruit growers stand to gain new markets from the expansion, and that the investment creates opportunities for women and youth in distribution networks.

A $650 million commitment

Jaipuria did not stop at the commissioning. He announced a broader $650 million investment plan spanning multiple sectors over the next 5 years, including renewable energy, recycling, and brewing. A 130-megawatt green energy project, estimated at between $300 million and $350 million, is already under development in Matobo. He also confirmed plans for a recyclable PET packaging facility that the company says will reduce imports and increase exports to neighboring African markets.

Acquisitions and expansion across the continent

The Zimbabwe push is part of a wider Africa strategy Jaipuria has been accelerating. Varun Beverages recently completed a $125 million acquisition of Twizza, the South African beverage producer, through its subsidiary The Beverage Company, solidifying its position in Africa's competitive soft drinks market. The company has also moved into Kenya, opening a subsidiary there to boost manufacturing and distribution activities.

Central Africa is also in play. In June 2025, Varun Beverages RDC SAS broke ground on a $50 million Pepsi bottling facility in the Kiswishi Special Economic Zone in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company also acquired Pepsi bottling operations in Ghana and Tanzania in 2024, reflecting a strategy of building scale in markets where beverage consumption is expanding rapidly.

Who is Ravi Jaipuria

Jaipuria was born in 1953 into a business family in India and studied in the United States before returning in the mid-1980s to work in the family's soft drink business. After a family division in 1987, he received a single Coca-Cola bottling plant as his share, which became the foundation of his business after he pivoted to PepsiCo as the American company expanded into India.

Today, Varun Beverages distributes major brands including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Mirinda, 7UP, Sting, Aquafina, and Tropicana across India and several international markets, making it one of PepsiCo's largest franchise partners anywhere in the world. Beyond beverages, Jaipuria controls Devyani International, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee, and Taco Bell outlets across India, and holds investments in healthcare through Medanta. Forbes puts his net worth at $12.3 billion.

During the commissioning ceremony, Jaipuria described Zimbabwe as one of the most vital markets in Varun's African expansion strategy. The capital commitments his company has made across the continent suggest that assessment will be tested in the years ahead.