Pepsi puts cap on rumor that Merced bottling plant is closing

Despite what its employees are saying, the Pepsi Bottling Group Merced plant is not closing.

At least not in the near future.

Mary Viola, spokeswoman for Pepsi Beverages Co., said rumors of the plant closing aren't true -- at this time.

"Management met with employees Wednesday afternoon and discussed ongoing operations," Viola said. "The topics discussed included consolidation due to the combination of businesses, but no decisions have been made."

The deal for Pepsi to buy Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. in Somers, N.Y., and PepsiAmericas, Inc. in Minneapolis was announced last year.

Together, the two facilities account for about 75 percent of all U.S. bottler-distributed sales of Pepsi's carbonated drinks.

The Merced plant has been in operation for about 40 years, Viola said, and employs 43 people.

The plant is a can plant, distributing cans of Pepsi products.

E-mails to the Merced Sun-Star from employees at the plant claim the Wednesday meeting was held to tell employees the plant was going to close.

Calls to the plant resulted in referrals to Pepsi's corporate offices.

Employees at the plant said they were told not to talk to members of the media.

"Ever since the combination of businesses happened, anxiety has been high among plant employees," Viola said. She added that the meeting was held to try to "calm" employees' fears.

Although Viola stressed that no decisions about closing Merced's plant have been made, she admitted the possibility exists.

"When you combine two businesses, I think any company would look at operations and at closing plants," she said. "But no decisions have been made as of Friday morning."

Reporter Carol Reiter can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or creiter@mercedsun-star.com.