CANADA – Coke Canada Bottling, the Canadian franchise bottler for Coca-Cola, has announced an investment of close to CAD42 million (US$ 32.58M) in its Lower Mainland operations to meet growing customer demand in British Columbia.

The investment includes a CAD 24 million (US$ 18.62M) manufacturing line and an additional CAD 18 million (US$ 13.96M) in sales, warehouse, and distribution facility, both located in Richmond, British Columbia (B.C.).

Todd Parsons, Coke Canada Bottling CEO said: “We are a family business and, as the Lower Mainland’s local bottler, we’re very committed to investing in our local business for the long-term.”

We’re guided by our Mission to deliver optimism and create a better future for our customers, consumers, and communities.”

The new manufacturing line, which is expected to be operational in spring 2023, will enable the company to produce pre-form bottles, increase capacity and reduce packaging emissions, the company stated.

Coke Canada said the new sales, warehouse, and distribution center will combine the capabilities of the company’s current distribution centers in Richmond and Coquitlam.

It will offer expanded storage capabilities and enable a seamless transition of the products from production to placement on the company’s iconic Red Truck for distribution.

The facility, which is expected to open in Spring 2024, will also be home to Coke Canada’s local fleet and equipment service operations.

The investment includes a CAD 24 million
(US$ 18.62M) manufacturing line and an additional CAD 18 million (US$ 13.96M) in
sales, warehouse, and distribution facility, both located in Richmond, British
Columbia (B.C.).

The current Richmond manufacturing plant produces the equivalent of about 480 million 355-milliliter cans per year.

Various sizes of polyethylene bottles are also filled, with the current bottling line requiring those bottles to be previously manufactured.

“Today, full-size bottles have to be manufactured somewhere else, shipped on a truck and delivered to the facility and then fed into the production line,” Coke Canada Bottling CEO Tood Parsons said. “The new line can do a complete production from a pre-form.”

He explained that the new line can take test-tube-sized polyethylene molds and blow them into needed bottle sizes, fill the bottles and then label them.

This is expected to reduce the amount of trucks used to deliver PET packaging from 10 truckloads of ready-made polyethylene bottles to just  one truckload of pre-formed polyethylene molds.

CEO Todd Parsons notes that increasing the manufacturing capacity and consolidating the warehouse and distribution operations, the company is ensuring it is able to grow its business and continue to make, distribute, merchandise, and sell B.C.’s favorite beverages for many years to come.

The company expects sales to increase by about three percent per year but Parsons could not say exactly how much volume he expects to produce once the new line is operational in spring 2023.

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