• dan@upvote.au
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    2 days ago

    Are any drink manufacturers fully vertically integrated? I think most of them outsource can and bottle manufacturing, even big manufacturers like Coca-Cola. They’re in the business of making drinks, not making cans and bottles (which don’t have any special features compared to cans and bottles used by other companies), so it makes sense to use a vendor that has experience in that area.

    • plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      Coca-Cola atleast some plants have blow molders for plastic bottles. Making cans is a massive ordeal and requires its own plant, so if they have the space they could probably do it as well. A plastic blowmolder is under 100sqft. Makes more economical sense to ship in blanks and make your own than shipping 10x empty air volume.

    • theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Anheuser-Busch manufactures cans and bottles

      Anheuser Busch owns and operates aluminum can plants (Metal Container Corporation). MCC supplies Anheuser Busch breweries and Pepsi Beverages Group fillers across the US. Suppliers to Anheuser-Busch Companies include Owens-Illinois, which provides glass bottles to several Anheuser-Busch breweries. Anheuser-Busch also owns glass production facilities, such as the former Longhorn Glass, which provides glass for the Houston brewery.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anheuser-Busch#Other_operations

      Coca Cola is unique in that the company itself only produces concentrated syrups which it sells to franchises that handle bottling.

      • plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works
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        2 days ago

        Coca-Cola Canada makes their own bottles and packages cans and bottles as well, they also make their own “syrup” on site. IE they make their stuff for pop machines. Canning and bottling is only watering down that mix and carbonating it.

        I see no reason why Coca Cola plants in the US wouldn’t bottle and can their own stuff as well. And also no reason why they can’t have a blow molder to make their own bottles. They aren’t that specialized pieces and the units less than 100sqft.

        • theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          You can downvote me, but facts are facts.

          In general, the Coca-Cola Company and its subsidiaries only produce syrup concentrate, as well as sourcing beverage base including coffee beans, tea leaf, juices, etc., which is then sold to various bottlers throughout the world who hold a local Coca-Cola franchise. Coca-Cola bottlers, who hold territorially exclusive contracts with the company, produce the finished product in packages from the concentrate and beverage base, in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute, and merchandise the Coca-Cola product to retail stores, vending machines, restaurants, and food service distributors. Outside the United States, these bottlers also control the fountain business.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coca-Cola_Company#Bottlers

          They even formed an initiative to temporarily own, consolidate, and accelerate franchises in order to get Coca-Cola out of the bottling business.

          the company has accelerated refranchising both company-owned bottlers and independent bottling partners to consolidate their operations and move away from the capital-intensive and low-margin business of bottling, with maintaining minor share ownership of these consolidated bottlers and secure the right to nominate directors and/or executives through shareholders agreement and/or capital and business alliance agreement.

          • plantfanatic@sh.itjust.works
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            2 days ago

            You realize in general means not in every case? In Canada and the USA, that’s not the case, they make their own syrup and fills cans and bottles.

            Sure other countries may outweigh it, but large countries don’t operate that way.

            Source, I’ve installed blow molders for bottling plants that mix their own syrups.

            They have multiple lines, usually one for pop machine, two for plastic bottles and one for cans. Depending on the size and location they may also distribute stuff like Monster as well.

            Now if you’re talking like a small town somewhere, shipping syrup is cheaper, so in specific cases (not in NA) it can make some sense to ship syrup and then add the water.

            Pepsi-co more or less operates the same as well, they have blow molders on site for plastic bottles.