March 1, 2016
CHATTANOOGA COCA-COLA, A DIVISION OF COCA-COLA UNITED, ANNOUNCES THE GRAND OPENING OF NEW STATE OF THE ART FACILITY
Coca-Cola UNITED makes $67 million Capital Investment in Chattanooga, Tennessee
CHATTANOOGA, TN – March. 1, 2016 – Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Company, the world’s first Coca-Cola bottler and a division of Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, Inc. (“Coca-Cola UNITED”), announced today to be the official grand opening of the new 296,000-square-foot, state of the art facility on Shepherd Road in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This facility will serve customers, consumers and communities in Chattanooga, TN; Scottsboro, AL; and Dalton, GA markets within the Tennessee Valley Division of Coca-Cola UNITED.
“Coca-Cola UNITED’s investment in this world-class sales and distribution center is tangible evidence of our confidence and optimism in our business and Chattanooga,” said Claude B. Nielsen, Chairman and CEO, Coca-Cola UNITED. “All of this has been made possible through our dynamic partnerships in this community and our enterprise – for the past 117 years!”
“We’ve come a long way from the Patten Parkway location in 1899 by continuing to provide the best brands, excellent customer service and being good corporate citizens,” said Darren Hodges, Director – Tennessee Valley Division of Coca-Cola UNITED. “This facility gives Coca-Cola UNITED two locations with more than 600,000 square feet of total space and over 500 employees in Chattanooga. Our new state of the art facility positions us for continuous growth in the generations to come.”
“The 2111 West Shepherd Drive facility is also the first within Coca-Cola UNITED to install Vertique; the cutting edge warehouse and case packing system which improves productivity and accuracy of warehouse order picking functions,” said Stan Ellington, Vice President, UNITED Packers, Inc. “Vertique has the ability to optimize the picking of our customer orders and build them on the fewest number of pallets. Additionally, the system is easily expanded with sales growth, or the additions of new brands and packages to meet consumer’s preference.”
“This new facility is emblematic of the energy and momentum we’re seeing across our bottling system today,“ said James Quincey, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Coca-Cola Company. “It’s fitting that our pioneering friends at Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Company and Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED are leading the way into the future through a clear commitment to our consumers and retail partners in the place where the world first loved Coca-Cola in a bottle.”
