Birmingham-based bottler UNITED will take over Coca-Cola production facilities in College Park and Marietta as part of the Atlanta beverage giant’s continued push to refranchise its bottling system.
Coke said on Wednesday it has signed new letters of intent with several independent bottling businesses to take on more of Coca-Cola’s Refreshments bottling distribution system in the United States. Coca-Cola Refreshments is Coke’s company-owned bottler.
In addition to operating new production facilities, UNITED will gain more territory in north and central Georgia, including the Atlanta metro area, Athens, Macon and Rome. It also will acquire production facilities in Montgomery, Ala. and Cleveland, Tenn.
Other letters of intent have been signed with Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, based in Tampa, which will assume bottling territory in southeastern Florida, including Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, Miami and West Palm Beach.
Viking Coca-Cola Bottling Company, based in St. Cloud, Minn., will assume territory in portions of northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and a portion of Michigan.
“Together with our bottling partners, we are changing the landscape of our U.S. system,” Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola North America said Wednesday in a release. “Today’s announcement further advances our efforts to balance national scale and local capability, which will help us significantly increase our leadership and enhance our competitive advantage in the U.S. business.”
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