Zein Abdalla, chief executive officer - PepsiCo Europe, and Mehmood Khan, executive vice president, PepsiCo chief scientific officer, Global R&D, officially opened the state-of-the-art Global R&D Hamburg Innovation Centre (HIC) in Germany this week.

The development of the 3,600 square meter facility has created 40 new jobs for scientists and engineers, and the €17 million investment in the HIC will enable the facility to take a lead role in PepsiCo's global fruit and vegetable research.

The work at the site, which includes a pilot plant, office building and laboratories, is intended to improve the quality and taste of existing products. Teams at the site will also develop new product lines that capitalize on consumers' growing demand for delicious and wholesome food to help live healthy lives.

"Fruit and veg is a platform for growth that plays to every corner of the globe," Zein said. "By staying integrated with the business and aiming for real innovation, our Hamburg team will help transform our aspirations into consumer solutions, and that is not only good for the business, but will help deliver better nutrition to broader world populations."

Mehmood added: "We are investing heavily in this area of research to help deliver solutions to the agro-food challenges of a growing population. The Hamburg centre is a jewel in the network of R&D functions: work that is done here has a global dimension -- it's a key building block in helping deliver our GNG strategy."

Fruit and vegetable innovation is a core element of PepsiCo's global commitment to build a $30 billion nutrition business by 2020.