Five years after losing the account to arch rival PepsiCo, Coca-Cola won the rights to sell beverages at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, a huge group of hotels that includes Sheraton, Westin, W, St. Regis and others. The hotel chain, based just a few miles from PepsiCo in White Plains, N.Y., chose Coca-Cola as an exclusive partner.
Starwood has more than 1,000 properties around the world, including 420 in the United States and 60 in Canada, and is expanding its presence in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
In early 2006, Starwood jumped ship from longstanding partner Coca-Cola to sign a major deal with Pepsi. Starwood's boss at the time: Steve Heyer, who had resigned from Coca-Cola and taken the helm at the hotel company.
The effort to wrest the account away from PepsiCo took several years and involved Coca-Cola, its main bottler and a number of smaller bottlers.
"It was a true team effort," said Mike Rizzo, vice president of business development at Coca-Cola Refreshments, the company's bottling arm in the U.S.
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