PepsiCo has opened a $10 million regional research and development hub in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to develop food products and packaging for Middle Eastern markets. The facility brings product development, consumer testing and quality assessment into one location.

 

 

The opening was attended by Khalil bin Ibrahim bin Salameh, Saudi Arabia’s Vice Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Industrial Affairs. PepsiCo said the hub establishes a permanent regional base for research and development and will employ local scientists and engineers alongside teams in its R&D network.

 

 

For packaging suppliers and converters, the facility’s packaging development lab is part of the investment. PepsiCo said the hub will work on packaging suited to regional preferences, alongside new flavours, locally inspired seasonings and better-for-you options. The company did not specify packaging materials, formats, production capacity or a timetable for projects.

 

 

The site also includes quality-testing and seasoning laboratories, a culinary kitchen and ideation area, a focus group room and a 12-seat sensory panel. A consumer immersion space uses 360-degree screens and climate controls to recreate settings for product evaluation. PepsiCo said placing these functions together will help its teams develop, test and refine ideas more quickly.

 

 

“This center helps us innovate locally rather than adapt globally,” said Ahmed El Sheikh, CEO of Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan Foods at PepsiCo. The company said its regional staff will work with R&D teams connected to innovation centres in Brazil, China, Germany, Mexico and the United States.

 

 

The Riyadh investment adds a local development capability to PepsiCo’s Middle East operations. Its packaging work could inform future product formats for the region, although the company has not identified specific launches or partners in its announcement.