We speak to the President and COO of Coca-Cola Consolidated, Dave Katz, and Vice President of Technical Services, Melanie Sabella, about the company’s unwavering commitment to serving its consumers, communities and teammates.
ILLUSTRIOUS, INNOVATIVE, AND ICONIC
Boasting a rich history and heritage, and with a legacy spanning over a century, stands the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the US – Coca-Cola Consolidated.
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company manufactures, sells, and distributes beverages from The Coca-Cola Company and other partner companies in more than 300 brands and flavors, including soft drink, coffee, tea, sports drink, fruit juice, and water brands.
“We have been around for 122 years and our current Chairman and CEO, Frank Harrison, is the fourth generation of the Harrison family to lead the company,” introduces Dave Katz, President and COO of Cola-Cola Consolidated.
The company does business across 14 states and the District of Columbia with approximately 60 million consumers.
“We are a publicly traded, family-controlled company, and fifth-generation family members are working in the business as well,” he continues.
Katz has been in the food and beverage industry for over 30 years, and while it is an exciting space to work in, he finds the Coca-Cola brands to be the most fun to represent.
When Katz began his career, the options for different beverages and flavors were limited. Therefore, category expansion and the potential growth opportunity was and continues to be enormous.
“An interesting fact is, on average, a human needs to consume eight beverages a day to stay alive, so the opportunities are there to provide consumers with what they are looking for,” he observes.
Coca-Cola Consolidated is also proud to offer a variety of choices for consumers of all ages. They have expanded low- and zero-sugar beverages for consumers to make the choices that are right for them.
POURING SUSTAINABILITY INTO THE INDUSTRY
Committed to preserving what is important, Coca-Cola Consolidated is an industry leader when it comes to sustainability solutions and best practices to put the planet first.
In a bid to reduce water waste, the company has introduced several initiatives, including water efficiency monitoring and enhanced production planning. It also provides rain barrel/recycling drum donations and adheres to water treatment standards.
The company has made many significant investments in recent years to reduce waste and increase efficiency. The bottler has championed breakthrough innovations in technology across its footprint.
“Most of the equipment we purchase today is designed to improve efficiency. Technological advancements are helping our energy and water usage, which we aim to reduce by 20 percent by 2028. It’s something we’ve tracked for many years in all our manufacturing facilities,” imparts Melanie Sabella, Vice President of Technical Services at Coca-Cola Consolidated, overseeing Engineering, Corporate Quality, and Environmental Affairs.
The company has always been a leader regarding its energy and water usage, which it hopes to improve even further by implementing new technologies.
“We’ve installed a lot of semi-automated equipment that allows us to handle all product variations efficiently. We can be more agile in the market and react to the demands of our commercial plan more effectively.”
The company can optimize the work it does and produce more volume in less square footage than traditional operations.
Coca-Cola Consolidated advocates for communities by cleaning streams and roads through teammate volunteering activities while educating consumers to recycle bottles and cans.
“Our 20-ounce Coca-Cola trademark bottles are made of 100 percent recycled plastic, but to increase our range of recyclable container sizes, we need them returned, so we always encourage positive environmental behavior and recycling,” Sabella enthuses.
As an industry, Coca-Cola Consolidated strives to get bottles and cans back through recycling so it can turn them into new packaging.
“There is an opportunity to see more products get recycled instead of being sent to landfill, and we are working with partners to facilitate that circular economy,” she adds.
THE COCA-COLA CONSOLIDATED CULTURE
Coca-Cola Consolidated’s purpose is to honor God in all it does. This purpose is also central to the company’s talent approach, influencing how it identifies and attracts candidates who are willing to learn and grow.
“We consider ourselves purpose-driven, and when people understand the reason behind a company’s existence, they are more motivated to be part of it. The HR team presents our employee value promise through our ‘be’ statements – be supported, be empowered, be developed, be inspired, be rewarded, and be connected,” Katz outlines.
Moreover, Coca-Cola Consolidated has invested in experiential learning centers and offers leadership development programs to provide critical middle leaders with skill sets for future roles. This has increased talent mobility and retention of top talent.
“I am excited to see the success rate of leaders who have participated and gone on to achieve greater roles within the company thanks to our numerous educational opportunities,” expresses Katz.
Furthermore, the Coca-Cola Consolidated Hope Scholarship gives teammate and their families access to university-level education.
The company also has a total rewards program to keep its team motivated, including physical, mental, and financial well-being packages for them and their families, and celebrates teammates achievements, such as the Servant Leader Award.
“We’re committed to fostering a company culture where everyone behind the bottle feels they have contributed to our success,” emphasizes Sabella.
As such, Coca-Cola Consolidated has also established veteran, women, and young professional resource groups as part of its Seat at the Table framework that give teammates additional avenues for support, networking, and mentoring.
The company is invested in future talent through its Applied Learning Internship and Coca-Cola Consolidated HBCU S.O.A.R. Scholarship Program, where students can gain real-world business experience.
PRIORITIES, PROJECTS, AND PURPOSE
About six years ago, the company initiated its Operating Destination – One Coca-Cola Consolidated Team, consistently generating cash flow while empowering the next generation of diverse servant leaders.
“As we drive toward our Operating Destination, we have some key focus areas. One key focus is to identify the tasks people enjoy the least and automate them so they can spend time adding value to other areas,” notes Katz.
The second area of focus for the company is achieving scale while maintaining a personal touch.
This involves balancing the need to grow and scale certain functions as a large company without losing the local connection.
“Part of our magic is achieving balance; we prioritize teammate engagement and emphasize a sense of belonging. Our HR team has conducted impressive analytical work which shows that if we can create a positive experience during an employee’s first 100 days, they’re much more likely to remain with us in the long term,” he continues.
Continuing to automate the mundane, Coca-Cola Consolidated is committed to building automated warehouses. The company will soon open its sixth automated warehouse, located in Columbus, Ohio.
“We’re excited to see how artificial intelligence (AI) will evolve our data to produce more efficiency and track the entire supply chain from production to consumer, tightening up our processes,” Sabella concludes.
“We strive to stay ahead and lead the system; we’re not afraid to try new things. If something doesn’t work, we’ll move on, knowing that the next big idea might help us advance the business.”
CULTURE AND COMMUNITY
The fundamental cornerstone of the company is to serve others, pursue excellence, and grow profitably. Coca-Cola Consolidated is honored to support numerous non-profit organizations within its 14-state territory.
The company’s mission is to address the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the communities it serves, which is reflected in the local events that teammates participate in where they work and live.
“We’re dedicated to strengthening our communities by actively supporting youth development, education, and health and wellness programs. We also have crisis assistance initiatives to help with incidents, such as the recent hurricane that impacted North Carolina, to serve both our workforce and the surrounding community. Our goal is to fulfill our purpose and honor God in all we do,” Sabella prides.
One of the unique elements of Coca-Cola Consolidated is its Response Team, which plays a crucial role in emergency situations.
In 2017, when Hurricane Harvey struck Houston, Chairman Frank Harrison anticipated that similar storms would impact the company’s territory. As a result, he formed a response team – a small group of full-time employees supported by a larger group of trained volunteers who serve teammates free of charge as they recover from disasters.
INNOVATION AND INVESTMENT FOR INDUSTRIOUS IMPROVEMENT
- Coca-Cola Consolidated has installed four new global production lines in recent years, including blow molding, a technology that utilizes pre-forms – raw materials that are shaped and then blown into bottles during the production process. This innovation allows for more pre-forms to be shipped per vehicle compared to empty bottles, reducing the number of trucks on the road.
- The company is also investing in center-lining within manufacturing facilities to make changeovers from one bottle size or flavor to another more efficient and faster, while providing varieties demanded by consumers.
- A group of eight bottlers, including Coca-Cola Consolidated, have partnered with the Coca-Cola Company to create an investment fund focused on environmental technologies, such as emissions control, vehicle innovations, and unique packaging materials.
