Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England closes on significant acquisition

BEDFORD — The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England has closed on a deal to acquire territory from The Coca-Cola Company across eight states in the Northeast, including all of New England, upstate and western New York, and a portion of Pennsylvania. The definitive agreement, signed Friday, Sept. 29, comes approximately 18 months after The Coca-Cola Company announced a letter of intent with the bottling partner as part of a broader plan to refranchise operations in North America.

CCNNE has local roots that date back to a single bottling operation that started 40 years ago in Laconia.

KW Corporation, now Coca Cola of Northern New England) was formed in 1977 with the acquisition of Laconia Coca Cola. The Belmont facility was built in 1985 to replace the inadequate building in Laconia. It has always been part of CCNNE since 1977. As the years went on, CCNNE acquired plants in Salem (now closed);Seabrook; Lowell and Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Portland, Bangor and Presque Isle, Maine; Burlington, Vermont; and Malone, New York. These make up CCNNE as it has been for several years.

The deal represents a significant expansion for the Bedford-based Coca-Cola of Northern New England. CCNNE will now own and manage operations in several large metropolitan areas, including Boston, Providence and Hartford as well as Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany, New York. In addition to its legacy footprint that includes a state-of-the-art manufacturing center and ten sales and distribution centers around the region, CCNNE will take over two additional manufacturing plants and 19 distribution centers that were formerly part of Coca-Cola Refreshments, a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company.

“Being part of the iconic Coca-Cola brand has always been tremendously gratifying and humbling for us as a local bottler, and we couldn’t be more excited to embark on this next chapter of our history,” said CCNNE President Mark Francoeur. “Our hardworking associates are our greatest asset, and I’m beyond proud to welcome over 2,600 new people to the CCNNE family.”

Growing from 1,380 to almost 4,000 associates, CCNNE expects to sell 55 million more cases of beverages annually as a result of the expansion, bringing total volume to about 82 million cases per year. CCNNE will have manufacturing facilities in Londonderry; East Hartford, Connecticut; and Needham Heights, Massachusetts. As a total beverage company, CCNNE offers an expansive portfolio of products that includes everything from its namesake Coca-Cola drinks to Dasani waters, smartwater, vitaminwater, Gold Peak teas and coffees, Honest Tea, Powerade sports drinks, Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffees, Minute Maid juices, Zico coconut water, and more.