The parent company of Coca-Cola Baton Rouge announced this morning that it has finalized a deal that will expand its territory to include distribution in Alexandria, Monroe and Shreveport, as well as Natchez, Mississippi. Financial terms of the deal, which Daily Report first reported on in April, are not being disclosed.
Founded in 1902 and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, Coca-Cola Bottling Company United Inc. is the third largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States and the largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler, with more than 4,800 employees. With the market expansions in Louisiana and Mississippi, the company now serves 33 territories across seven states in the southeastern U.S.
Coca-Cola Bottling Company United West Region Vice President Paul Favaron, a Baton Rouge resident, will oversee the entire Louisiana-Mississippi territory under the new agreement. The company plans to add 78 new employees with the territory expansion, Favaron says in a news release.
Coca-Cola Baton Rouge spokesperson Melanie Clark told Daily Report in April that the strategy behind granting such a large territory to Coca-Cola Bottling United is to create a more locally managed beverage system, where there are more contiguous territories and a better business model to serve customers in those areas. That said, local retailers and consumers will likely not notice much change in day-to-day operations.
The territories Coca-Cola Bottling Company United is assuming were previously owned by Coca-Cola Refreshments, which is an arm of the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company.
Coca-Cola has more details on this morning’s announcement.
