Nearly a year after The Coca-Cola Co. gave expanded territory rights in several states to the parent company of Coca-Cola Baton Rouge, the local bottling company says it’s expanding its operations to Greater New Orleans and New Iberia.
In a news release issued today, the Baton Rouge bottling company says the move will add 92 local jobs between those two markets.
The transaction follows the April 2015 announcement from Birmingham, Alabama-based Coca-Cola Bottling Co. UNITED—the parent company of Coca-Cola Baton Rouge—that The Coca-Cola Co. awarded it expanded territory in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi. At the time, Melanie Clark, spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Baton Rouge, told Daily Report that granting a large territory to Coca-Cola UNITED would create a more locally managed beverage system. Paul Favaron, who was president of Coca-Cola Baton Rouge, oversees the Louisiana-Mississippi territory under the expansion agreement.
“Coca-Cola has a long history in South Louisiana and is an important part of the community,” says Favaron, now vice president of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED Inc. West Region, in a news release. “As I have become familiar with our new UNITED family members, I am impressed with their capabilities and dedication to their local customers and communities.”
Favaron adds that 850 associates collectively serve the Greater New Orleans and New Iberia markets.
“We are very optimistic about the future of Coca-Cola UNITED in the West Region,” he says.
Local Coca-Cola bottlers in the Greater New Orleans and New Iberia territories began operations as divisions of Coca-Cola UNITED on Thursday. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
