Central Beverage Group history

Coca-Cola history began in 1886 when the curiosity of an Atlanta pharmacist, Doctor John S. Pemberton, decided to create a medicine to help with headaches.

The year of 1896 saw the birth of Nashville's third oldest industry, the Nashville Bottling Company.

He established a syrup and bottling factory in New Bern in 1904.

Bradham began franchising the product to other bottling companies almost immediately; by the end of 1909 there were 250 in at least 24 states.

The first accurate sales records show 315 cases sold in the peak month of August 1914.

The first bottles were brown, but in 1915 a patent was secured for a green bottle that would be universally recognized.

In 1920, it was ruled that "Coke" when used to apply to a beverage meant Coca-Cola and nothing else.

However, in 1931 his National Pepsi-Cola Corp. also went bankrupt.

He also acquired a Montreal plant in 1934 and formed a Canadian subsidiary.

Loft, Inc. shareholders won a proxy fight against Guth in 1936, and three years later he withdrew from Pepsi-Cola by terms of a settlement.

By 1938, the company had reached a gratifying high, bottling drinks such as Nu-Grape, Orange, Lemon Crush, Hence Wilder's own secret formula Hot-Shot, and of course Coca-Cola.

Loft was merged into Pepsi-Cola in 1941.

Coca-Cola challenged the Canadian Pepsi trademark, taking its case all the way to the British empire's highest court, which in 1942 ruled in favor of Pepsi-Cola.

In 1943, Ramon Wilson acquired stock in the corporation and his full time employment began.

In 1944, Ramon Wilson was inducted into the United States Marines where he participated in combat during Iwo Jima.

In 1946, Alger Harrison joined the company and was employed for more than 50 years as lead salesman and later as production manager.

In 1948, a new bottling machine producing 63 bottles per minute was installed.​

In 1953, the first price increase in Coca-Cola history occurred.

In 1955, Ramon Wilson became sales manager.

In 1957, Herschell Vaughan was employed and would later be sales manager for 25 years.

In 1958, the 10-ounce bottle with an applied white label was introduced on the contour bottle.

The company scored a public relations coup in 1959, when, as the representative of the United States soft drink industry at the Moscow Trade Fair, its kiosk was visited on a hot summer day by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and United States Vice-President Richard Nixon.

1965: Company is renamed PepsiCo, Inc. following its merger with Frito-Lay.

The nation remained out of bounds commercially until 1973, however, when Moscow made Pepsi-Cola the sole soft drink company allowed to bottle in the Soviet Union.

Pepsi-Cola Bottling and Distribution to 1975

Jacky Robinson was employed in July 1976 and succeeded Tom Sanford as sales manager.

Some two billion bottles were being sold annually in 1978.

By 1980, Nashville, Coca-Cola Bottling Company's per capita had reached 300 bottles a year in the 8 counties.

In February of 1981, with the aid of Act 9 municipal bonds, Nashville Coca-Cola Bottling company moved into its new $2 million dollar production facility at its present location of 1301 South Fourth Street.

By 1985, plant sales had reached an all time high of 650,000 cases.

On January 1, 1988, Kenneth R. Wilson was elected President and became the 4th generation to run the Wilson family owned business.

In 1990 PepsiCo was operating on a company-owned basis about 55 of the 190-odd soft drink plants in the United States, accounting for about 47 percent of the Pepsi-Cola beverages sold in the United States.

In 1995 the number of company-owned plants in the United States and Canada was about 70 (of about 200 total), accounting for 56 percent of Pepsi beverages sold in North America.

The company, in 1996, said it would work with Whitman Corp.'s General Bottlers unit--Pepsi's second largest bottler--and insurer Leucadia National Corp. to add 11 plants over the next five years.

Russian operations suffered a heavy blow in 1998, when the value of the ruble collapsed, leading to a $212 million restructuring asset writedown.

The long-term debt was $3.27 billion at the end of 1999.

About 80 percent of PBG's volume in 2000 was sold in the United States.

50 Cent got his first taste of just how lucrative the beverage business could be in 2007, when Coca-Cola bought VitaminWater’s parent company for $4.1 billion.

Our Chairman Ramon F. Wilson died August 28, 2012, having served the company for over 69 years.