Diageo is to open a US$110m facility in the US as the group seeks to accelerate its growth in the country's ready-to-drink (RTD) category. The 225,000 square-foot site, set for Plainfield, Illinois, will have an annual capacity of around 25m cases of malt-based beverages and spirit-based RTDs. Known as Diageo Lincolnway, the facility will employ 50 and comprise two canning lines. Diageo will produce drinks from across its existing portfolio at the site, including Smirnoff seltzers and spirits-based RTDs from Crown Royal. “The new canning facility will enhance Diageo’s existing operations, strengthening our offering and accelerating our strategy in the ready-to-drink category,” said Diageo North America’s VP of convenience, Keara Funck. “As we continue to build on this opportunity in the convenience space to deliver premium delicious bar-quality cocktails and malt-based beverages, we are excited about the innovations and possibilities this could bring to our consumers.” Lincolnway is the company’s third canning facility in North America, joining the sites in Relay, Maryland and Valleyfield, Quebec. Diageo upped its RTD presence last year with the acquisitions of Rhode Island's Loyal 9 Cocktails and Texan hard seltzer Lone River Ranch Water. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r