Swire Coca-Cola USA, which distributes Coca-Cola products across Colorado, has signed a letter of intent to take over the beverage maker’s Denver bottling plant by the end of October.
“We are very excited to have the plant coming under our ownership in the next few months,” said Jack Pelo, CEO of the company, which is one of the nation’s largest Coca-Cola distributors. “The coordination if you own both manufacturing and distribution is much better.”
In May 2014, Swire Coca-Cola USA, which is based in Draper, Utah, acquired Coca-Cola’s the addition of new distribution centers in the Stapleton area, Pueblo and Johnstown.
Pelo said among the advantages of putting the distribution center in the Stapleton area was that it freed up room at the plant and reduced traffic congestion in the area.
“We took the route delivery trucks out of there. We have made it more efficient at the old facility,” he said.
Northern Colorado’s population gains have made it one of the Coca-Cola brand’s stronger growth markets. Swire has invested $50 million along the Front Range and added about 60 employees, bringing its total in metro Denver to about 600. After it acquires the bottling plant on York Street from Coca-Cola Refreshments, the company will gain 150 more.
“We have had growth in Colorado in each of the years we have been here,” Pelo said. But finding workers, especially commercial truck drivers, to support that growth has proven a challenge at times.
Of the eight metro areas with the lowest unemployment rates in July, four were in northern Colorado — Fort Collins, Boulder, metro Denver and Greeley. Colorado’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate of 2.5 percent in July ranked second only to North Dakota at 2 percent, according to the
Swire is constantly tracking and adjusting its compensation to remain competitive with the market, and that has meant pay increases, Pelo said.
Swire Coca-Cola USA makes, sells and distributes Coca-Cola and other beverages, including more than 300 brands across parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. It is a subsidiary of Swire Pacific Ltd., which is part of the London-based conglomerate Swire Group, a 200-year-old company.
