Diageo (DEO) North America has announced plans to expand its manufacturing footprint to meet the growth in the ready-to-drink (RTD) category.

As part of this initiative, the company installed two high-speed can lines at a new facility in Plainfield of Illinois, US, with an investment of approximately $80m.

The company said that the facility will have the capacity to produce over 25 million cases of RTDs annually, the company said.

The new 225,000ft2 facility will feature two high-speed can lines, one with a capacity of 500 cans per minute (CPM) and a 1200CPM line, both of which are to go online later this year.

DEO North America president Debra Crew said: “As the ready-to-drink category continues to grow rapidly in the US, this expansion is very exciting as it will support our plans to meet increased consumer demand in line with emerging trends for convenient formats that are ideal for casual and at-home occasions.

“The new operation will supplement our existing RTD production across North America and strengthen our path to continue building our RTD offering.”

The facility will produce Smirnoff seltzers as well as newly launched spirits-based RTD cocktails from Crown Royal and Ketel One Botanicals.

Once operational, the facility will hire approximately 50 full-time team members.

DEO North America supply president Perry Jones said: “The strategic location of the new site, which is near our warehouse and Plainfield bottling operation, will allow Diageo to create synergies and the flexibility to expand and carry other market-leading brands in the future.

“We are thrilled to expand our manufacturing footprint and further deepen our relationship with the village of Plainfield.”