The new $67 million Coca-Cola Bottling Company United regional headquarters and distribution center on Shepherd Road is a marker of both the world-famous soda’s past, and of its future, said Coca-Cola Co. President and COO James Quincey during the new facility’s grand opening on Tuesday.
“It is a symbol of both where we come from, and what we’re going to,” Quincey said.
He said the new Chattanooga facility is exemplary of the relationship between The Coca-Cola Co. – which owns the Coke syrup and concentrate and marketing for Coca-Cola – and its network of independent producers and bottlers. The Birmingham, Ala.-based Coke United, the parent company of the world’s first Coke bottler in Chattanooga, is expanding its Coke distribution business as corporate Coke seeks to get out of production and distribution in North America by the end of 2017.
The Coca-Cola Co. announced earlier this year that after six years of selling franchise distribution territories across the country, going back to 2010, it feels confident now it can wind down the process by the end of next year.
And as that happens, franchisees like Coke United look to continue picking up additional territories, leading to spin-off results like the construction of the new Tennessee Valley Division regional headquarters and distribution center in Chattanooga. The new complex dedicated Tuesday serves more than 6,400 retail and restaurant outlets with more than 944,000 consumers across 12 counties in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.