Starbucks Coffee Company is set to expand its roasting facility in Augusta, Georgia.

Through a proposed investment of $120m, the company is expected to add 140,000ft² onto the existing facility in the Augusta Corporate Park in Richmond County.

Expected for completion by the end of next year, the expansion project will employ 100 people and is part of the company’s plan to add 68,000 new jobs by 2021.

Starbucks' Augusta soluble plant director Tim Filipowski said: “The expansion will allow the plant to expand our production beyond soluble coffee, adding six new roasters for whole bean coffee.”

Opened in 2012, the Augusta plant is the company’s fifth manufacturing facility in the country. It produces soluble products such as VIA Ready Brew, frappuccinos, and Starbucks' ready-to-drink beverages.

"The expansion will allow the plant to expand our production beyond soluble coffee, adding six new roasters for whole bean coffee."

Meant for North America and parts of European markets, the company’s soluble-based beverages contain ingredients and finished products that are prepared and packaged at the facility.

Georgia Quick Start, a division of the Technical College System of Georgia, provided customised workforce training to the company during the early phase of its operations in Augusta.

It is expected that Quick Start will continue to support Starbucks with training for the new expansion programme.

Starbucks has stores across the globe and roasts and retails specialty coffee.