Dutch bottling conglomerate Refresco has reached a deal to acquire three U.S. manufacturing facilities from The Coca-Cola Company, the company announced yesterday.
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, includes three production plants in Truesdale, Missouri; Waco, Texas; and Paw Paw, Michigan. The sites employ a combined 1,000 people and produces brands including Minute Maid, Gold Peak, Vitaminwater and Powerade.
The facilities will continue to produce Coca-Cola products as part of a long-term co-packing partnership included as part of the deal.
“Adding three hot fill production sites to our footprint is a great opportunity to further enhance our offering,” said Brad Goist, COO of Refresco North America, in a press release. “I am convinced that our Retail and A-brand customers across North America will be able to benefit from our extended capabilities and broadened geographical footprint.”
Coke also announced the closure of two additional hot-fill plants in American Canyon, California, and Northampton, Massachusetts.
The purchase marks a further expansion of Refresco’s North American manufacturing base, which kicked off with its acquisition of Canadian bottler Cott in 2018 for $1.25 billion. The following year, the company purchased Arizona Production & Packaging (AZPACK), a 240,000 sq. ft. facility with hot fill, cold fill and flash pasteurization capabilities. On Monday, the company closed the acquisition of South East Bottling & Beverage (SEBB), which operates a single production site in Dade City, Florida.
At present, Refresco operates 65 production facilities across Europe (36) and North America (29), not including the former Coca-Cola sites.
According to Refresco CEO Hans Roelofs, the three new acquisitions fit with Refresco’s broader strategy of building its branded customer business — which includes Coca-Cola as an existing client, alongside names like Pepsi, Monster, Red Bull and AriZona — to complement its private label services.
As with all of the company’s M&A activity, he said, the acquisition of the production assets also includes a co-packing contract with the seller. While noting Refresco’s enthusiasm for partnering with Coca-Cola, Roelofs added that the bottler will eventually seek to open manufacturing for other companies as well in the future.
In the meantime, Refresco has continued to invest in existing plants and operations, with Roelofs noting the company has added 10 to 12 new lines in North America alone since 2018.
“Our slogan is that we work with everyone and we don’t compete with anyone,” he said. “We never carve out space (exclusively) for any customer. We are there for everyone.”
In response to a press inquiry, Coca-Cola shared text of a Beverage Digest interview with Mark Rahiya, chief supply chain, technical and innovation officer at the company, in which he detailed the company’s “asset right” strategy. Rahiya praised Refresco as a partner that can “drive growth, unlock value, and lead innovation for the long term,” and noted that the deal would allow Coke to focus on “what we’re good at,” namely brand marketing, customer partnerships and its franchise system.
“We want to be able to experiment with platforms, products, and packaging across our business,” he said in the interview. “Working with select co-packers will give us an opportunity to move faster in this space, including in sustainability.”