Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages expands women’s roles across its workforce

SOUTH AFRICA – Coca-Cola Peninsula Beverages (CCPB) is highlighting the changing role of women across its workforce, as the independent Coca-Cola bottler uses Women’s Month to showcase the growing participation of women in manufacturing, logistics, technical operations and senior leadership.

CCPB employs approximately 1,350 people across the Western and Northern Cape, with women now accounting for around 27% of its workforce.

The company says the increase reflects a gradual shift from traditional perceptions of which roles women can occupy within the manufacturing and beverage industry.

The transformation is particularly evident in senior management. In the mid-1980s, CCPB had just one woman among 30 senior leaders.

Today, 12 women hold equivalent leadership positions, reflecting the changing career pathways available within the business.

Bryn Morse, CCPB’s culture and people development director, said women were initially concentrated in manual manufacturing positions, but training and development opportunities have since opened pathways into professional, technical and operational careers.

The shift has also challenged long-standing assumptions around logistics and driving roles.

“Going back to the mid-1980s, there was the perception that women couldn’t drive forklifts, that they couldn’t be lorry or truck drivers, that it wasn’t a woman’s role. That has changed. Some of our best forklift operators and truck drivers are female,” Morse said.

Larochelle Bezuidenhout illustrates that transition. She joined CCPB in 2005 as a seasonal truck driver and became the company’s first permanent female driver in 2012.

“I envisaged myself as being an example for many other females to follow,” she said.

Opening technical career pathways

Female representation is also growing in technical positions traditionally dominated by men. Refrigeration technician Yonela Mayongo said entering the field was initially intimidating but encouraged more women to consider technical careers.

For CCPB, the objective extends beyond increasing female representation. The company says it wants women to have access to career development across its operations and to see manufacturing and technical careers as viable long-term opportunities.

“The real measure of success isn’t how many women we have today, it’s whether the next generation sees these careers as possibilities from the start,” Morse said.

He adds that women in leadership can provide visible examples for employees entering the business.

“The more women you get into leadership roles, success breeds success. They become role models,” he said.

CCPB’s focus on developing future talent has been reinforced by recent investment in its production and operational capabilities, aimed at strengthening both efficiency and workforce development across its Western Cape facilities.

The company has upgraded key production infrastructure and expanded training initiatives linked to manufacturing, logistics and technical operations.

These investments are designed to support long-term skills development, with a particular emphasis on creating structured pathways for employees entering technical and operational roles.

CCPB says the upgrades are part of a broader strategy to modernise its bottling and distribution network while ensuring employees are equipped to operate increasingly advanced production systems.

The company has also continued to invest in on-the-job training programmes that allow staff to progress into supervisory and specialist roles.

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