Coca-Cola Beverages Florida hosted a groundbreaking ceremony June 16 for its new Tampa sales and distribution center. Coke Florida will invest more than $250 million in the construction of the a 800,000 square foot facility. The facility will sit on a 156-acre parcel along U.S. Highway 301 between the Selmon Expressway and Causeway Boulevard.
Coke Florida’s Tampa operations employs more than 800 employees across sales, manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, fleet operations and professional services. The facility will bring most of these employees together on one campus and will include a warehousing system designed to improve the speed and accuracy of operations.
Site preparation is scheduled to begin in the third quarter this year. Construction will bring economic activity to the area and is expected to be completed in 24 to 36 months.
Local government officials, business partners, and community partners shared in the milestone event for the family-owned company. Speaking at the event, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor commented, “I’m honored to be here with the Coke Florida team and with my friend, Troy Taylor. I have known Troy to be an excellent business leader and a visionary. The success of Coke Florida is evidence of that.
“I appreciate the success of Coke Florida as an organization but more so what touches my heart is the success of Coke Florida as a member of the community, understanding the responsibility to give back to our community so that everyone in our city and our county can enjoy the success that not only Coke Florida is realizing but our entire community is [realizing]. So, this development is incredible, it is going to jump start growth and so much more development and bring other businesses into our community.”
Tampa is home to Coca-Cola Beverages’ Florida headquarters and one of its four manufacturing facilities. Across the state, the company employs more than 4,600 employees and operates 18 sales and distribution facilities in addition to the 4 manufacturing facilities.
In May, Coke Florida was selected as a 2022 U.S. Best Managed Company by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal. The program recognizes outstanding U.S. private companies and the achievements of their management teams in four key areas: strategy, ability to execute, corporate culture, governance and financial performance.
Troy Taylor, Coke Florida’s founder, chairman and CEO, said, “While we are only seven years old as Coke Florida, the Coca-Cola system has been operating in Florida for more than 100 years. This means we are built on a solid foundation of serving ice cold beverages to Floridians and visitors, providing good-paying and long-lasting jobs and being an involved member in the communities where we operate.
“I am proud of the additional economic activity that our operations and projects will bring to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area with this new facility and our soon to be opened facility in St. Petersburg.”
Coca-Cola Beverages Florida is a family-owned company that is the sixth largest Coca-Cola bottler in the U.S. Coke Florida has a sales and distribution territory that covers more than 21 million consumers across 47 Florida counties and includes the major metropolitan markets of Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa.
Coke Florida makes, markets, sells and distributes a portfolio of more than 600 products of The Coca-Cola Company and other partner companies. The company is one of the largest Black-owned businesses in the U.S. and one of the largest minority-owned business in Florida.
To learn more, visit cocacolaflorida.com.
