A Coca-Cola bottler is planning a major expansion of its industrial plant in Fort Worth.
Over the next three years, Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages LLC plans to spend $168 million in expansion of its Fort Worth plant, which will add production lines and grow its warehouse space from 150,000 square feet to 400,000 square feet.
The Coca-Cola’s Fort Worth expansion is motivated by the growth of the Dallas-Fort Worth region and the wider state, CCSWB President Jean Claude Tissot relayed Dallas Business Journal in a statement. Dallas-Fort Worth region added more people than any other metro in the country between July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023 — about 418 people each day, when migration and births are factored in, according to the recent U.S. Census numbers.
“As North Texas continues to grow, we want to be prepared to support that growth,” Tissot said. “Coca-Cola products are some of the most popular brands in the state. It’s up to us to ensure we can get them in the hands of our customers now and in the future.”
The Fossil Creek facility expansion will help increase the production and storage capacity, along with improving service for Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages’ customers, the company said.
“We need to think about the opportunities for the future, how we will continue to grow, how we will continue to offer job opportunities and how we are going to be state of the art in terms of technology,” Tissot told the DMN. “That’s not just in our facilities but also in our commercial initiatives.”
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Coca-Cola’s Fort Worth Plant Expansion to Boost Texas Economy
The Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages company is the third-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the U.S., per the DMN. Currently, it employs about 1,800 people across the Metroplex and has generated over $5.4 billions in economic activity for Texas.
The bottler/distributor has been trying to boost its presence in North Texas, employing a strategy that involved airing Super Bowl ads for the past three years. This year’s commercial highlighted the company’s contributions to the community as a significant employer and advocate for nonprofits, as well as its commitment to recycling and sustainability initiatives.
The expansion of Coca-Cola’s Fort Worth plant follows the company’s new $260 million production and distribution facility in Houston. The 1 million-square-foot facility that opened in 2020 helped set the tone for what Fort Worth employees should expect with the integration of new technologies in production processes at the Fossil Creek operation.
While it expects to be able to produce more volume and to grow with its forthcoming Fort Worth push, Tissot, like many other executives, is mindful of the swelling population in Texas and Oklahoma.
The Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages LLC has been working to help locals and others understand the Coca-Cola product they consume may have been bottled by a North Texan. That has come in the form of big splashes like Super Bowl ads, and Tissot is looking to the exposure from the World Cup in 2026.
“We, as companies, need to recognize the potential and are committed to investing to seize it,” he stated.
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