September 30, 2025 Refreshing Business

Volume 28 | Issue 3

Coca-Cola Consolidated, the nation’s largest Coca-Cola bottler, offers a broad beverage portfolio to Southeast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic re

Click here to read the complete illustrated article or continue below to read the text article.

Coca-Cola is an iconic American brand, first served in an Atlanta pharmacy back in 1886. For almost as long, the equally iconic Coca-Cola Consolidated has served distributors, retailers, and other partner companies the celebrated soft drink, along with more than 300 other non-alcoholic beverage brands and flavors across 14 states and the District of Columbia to more than 60 million consumers, with net sales exceeding $6.9 billion in 2024.

The company that became Coca-Cola Consolidated after merging with other regional bottlers was founded in 1902 by the current chairman and chief executive officer’s great-grandfather, J.B. Harrison. Publicly traded on NASDAQ (COKE), it continues as a privately controlled company and is the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the nation, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina with 11 manufacturing facilities and 60 distribution centers employing 17,000 teammates.

Coca-Cola Consolidated recently announced the $15 million expansion of its Regional Operations Center in Monroe, North Carolina. The expansion includes a new 42,000 square foot warehouse. “The Monroe facility was primarily used to refurbish equipment like coolers used in convenience stores and groceries,” explains Vice President of Manufacturing Steve Funderburke. “The expansion not only improves those services but also houses the Coca-Cola Consolidated Technical Academy which offers trade school-type training and certifications in refrigeration, electrical work, and plumbing.”

Coca-Cola Consolidated has a strong focus on training and developing top talent through its Coca-Cola Consolidated Technical Academy, also using it to upskill current teammates. Another $90 million investment was also announced for a new 400,000 square foot distribution and warehouse facility, along with two 15,000 square-feet building for repair services and fleet maintenance on a 60-acre campus in Columbus, Ohio. The Columbus warehouse, which officially opened in February 2025, handles more than 16 million cases of product a year and, on average, about 75,000 cases a day. The investment has already created 25 new jobs.

Unlike the legendary secret Coca-Cola recipe, there’s no secret to the success of Coca- Cola Consolidated. The company’s Purpose statement is to honor God in all they do, serve others, pursue excellence, and grow profitably. That commitment is reflected in being named to America’s Greatest Workplaces for Parents & Families in 2025 by Newsweek. The award notes in part that, “For working parents across America, the ability of a company to respect and support their needs is a vital factor in determining where they choose to grow their careers.”

Culture is Number One

“Our culture is the number one motivation for our teammates – serving each other, our customers, and local communities. This is a great place to work with a lot of opportunities. As someone who started out 27 years ago as a mechanic to eventually become a vice president, I can attest to that,” says Funderburke. “And my experience is by no means unique.”

Indeed, many teammates stress how training opportunities and mentorship programs help navigate career paths and grow into more responsibilities and leadership positions. One example is a maintenance apprenticeship program conducted jointly with Central Piedmont Community College. “It’s a one-year program where we just had our first graduate, and we are about to start another class,” Funderburke says. “It’s a great opportunity for someone out of high school who isn’t interested in a two- or four-year college program and wants to learn practical skills and are guaranteed a job at Coca-Cola Consolidated.” Participants are able to earn while they learn, providing access to education and continued wages.

While much of the bottling process is automated, there are still a number of skilled jobs involved in manufacturing operations. “The difference maker for a lot of our automation is eliminating much of the heavy lifting,” Funderburke says. “In a company producing 300 million cases annually, that’s a lot of territory to cover; automation helps us work more efficiently. Reducing physically-challenging processes allows our teammates focus on running the operations and maintaining our facilities. It makes us more productive.”

He adds that, “We’re always looking at new equipment and technologies that can potentially further improve our processes. I think we’re just beginning to see how AI can help take us to the next level. At the same time, you can’t replace the dedication of our teammates.”

Bottling and Distributing

The company purchases beverage concentrate from The Coca-Cola Company as well as other brand owners, in addition to ingredients and materials from various suppliers. Concentrate and ingredients are blended and filled into sanitized bottles and cans that are then capped, date coded, and packaged and sent to warehouses for shipping. For the final delivery stage, Coca-Cola Consolidated manages Coca-Cola Consolidated delivery trucks. In addition to beverages, Coca-Cola Consolidated also operates a transportation and logistics subsidiary, Red Classic.

“The original reason we got into shipping was because of one-way freight,” Funderburke says. “We were paying for a trailer to deliver product from Charlotte to say Nashville or some other location, but then we had to pay for the trailer to come back to us empty. Red Classic was a way for us to move freight more economically, as well as for us to have more direct control over shipping logistics.”

Also headquartered in Charlotte, Red Classic runs more than 80 hubs, terminals, and maintenance shops across the same service territory as Coca-Cola Consolidated.. “While we offer our freight services to other companies, Red Classic primarily provides logistics for Coca- Cola Consolidated,” Funderburke notes.

A Choice for Every Taste

Joachim Rogers, Vice President/General Central Market Unit, notes that the company has a product in every non-alcoholic beverage category, including teas, cold coffees, energy drinks, and waters, as well as Coca-Cola and other sodas and sparkling drinks. He notes that while the company does work in tandem with The Coca-Cola Company on certain marketing and promotional activities, it sells products through its own sales and distribution network. “It’s true that the general public and even some of our customers may not realize we are a separate independent company,” he says, “But the important things is that we maintain the quality of everything we offer and are sure to provide sufficient supply to all territories and satisfy consumer demand.”

Funderburke notes, “We fulfill orders 24/7 in multiple packaging formats to ensure product is always where it is supposed to be, when it is supposed to be there.”

Rogers says that while consumer tastes have changed over the years, the company’s commitment to meet those tastes haven’t. “The major shift I’m seeing now is a general trend away from full-calorie selections. Today about 60 percent of our beverages are low- or zero-calorie. Probiotic drinks are also getting a lot of attention.” He is quick to point out, however, that, “We’re not looking to dictate what people should or shouldn’t drink. Consumers want choices, and we offer those choices. We have something for everybody.”

To that end, Coca-Cola Consolidated is always testing new products and innovative packaging solutions. “I think we’re the only bottler to offer micro-sized cans and bottles in smaller packaging,” Rogers says. “Many consumers still enjoy sodas but are looking for different sizes. At the same time, smaller convenience stores are looking for a way to distinguish themselves from the big retailers and groceries, so having more convenient packaging helps them do that.”

Sustainability

The company is committed to make the packaging as recyclable as possible, as well as partnering with local communities to collect and reuse materials that otherwise end up in landfills. Bottles and cans are not only made of recyclable materials but are also designed to be remade. Use of lighter weight PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) reduces plastic in its 20 oz., 12 oz., and 500 ML products. Plus, there is a shift to 100% recycled plastic (rPET) across all 20 oz. Coca-Cola Trademark products and Dasani 20 oz. bottles.

As part of its Refresh. Recycle. Renew. program, the company works with a variety of climate-conscious partners, including universities and colleges, sporting and event venues, other businesses, and local community organizations.

Funderburke notes as another example, “Our concentrate comes in 50-gallon plastic barrels. When we’re finished with them, we also donate these to be made into rain barrels throughout our territory.” So not only are the barrels recycled, but rainwater collection improves water usage and efficiency. Syrup barrels were recently converted into trash and recycling bins for use at the Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Coca-Cola 600, which collected over three tons of bottles and cans sent to recycling centers. “Our manufacturing plants all work with recycling vendors to aim to be 100% landfill free,” says Funderburke.

Given that water is a main ingredient of all its products, water efficiency is a paramount goal, as well as minimizing packaging materials, reducing waste, and using available technologies to keep as much out of landfills as possible. Coca-Cola Consolidated is also testing AI technology to identify water efficiencies in its sanitation processes. One example is a partnership with Vanguard Renewables that takes the sugar water from unsellable and destroyed beverage products mixed with other food waste and cow manure to produce natural gas, low carbon fertilizer, and bedding for cows.

Coca-Cola Consolidated also works with Atlantic Packaging to collect the stretch film used to wrap its pallets. By supporting a closed loop” economy, Atlantic Packaging recycles Coca- Cola Consolidated’s clean, used stretch film into new stretch film over and over again that results in a new stretch film that has a 12% post-consumer recycle content.

“We’re an industry leader in beverage recycling,” Rogers says. “Reducing waste is not only good for the environment; it also reduces costs.”

Community Engagement

Encouraging local recycling efforts is just one way the company seeks to serve its communities. It is also active in numerous organizations, sponsorships, and activities across the territories it serves and where its teammates live and work.

For example, after Hurricane Helene struck North Carolina in September 2024, the company teammates provided food and water, hygiene kits, and baby supplies to help with cleanup and family financial needs. Teammates also pitched in to remove downed trees, clear debris, set up food pantries and provide hot meals to everyone affected.

“We believe our enduring emphasis on the Purpose of our company remains the key to our success as a business and a community partner,” Rogers emphasizes.

We look forward to continuing to grow in serving our customers, our employees, and our local communities.”

All of which serves to demonstrate that things really do go better with Coca-Cola Consolidated.

Subscribe to Industry Today