Refresco Group

Founded	2000
Headquarters	Oranje Nassaulaan 44 6026 BC Maarheeze
Key people	Hans Roelofs (CEO) Bill McFarland (CFO)
Products	Soft drinks, fruit juices, water, ice tea, energy drinks.
Revenue	€4.2 billion (2021)
Net income	€61 million (2021)
Number of employees	10,609 (in FTE, as of end 2021)
Website	www.refresco.com

Refresco, previously known as Liko from the 1960s to 1995, is a producer of soft drinks, water, fruit juices, and energy drinks. The products are not sold under its own brand name but rather as private-label products for supermarkets or under the name of A-brand manufacturers. The company processes a volume of approximately 11.7 billion liters and has an annual revenue of over €4 billion. Its headquarters is located in Rotterdam.^[1] The company was listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange from 2015 to 2017.

History

In the early 1960s, soft drinks under the name Liko were produced at the Menken dairy factory in Wassenaar, Netherlands. When the production of soft drinks expanded, a new Liko factory was opened in Bodegraven in 1970. In 1995, Liko rebranded to Menken Drinks, from which Refresco was created through a management buy-out in 2000.^[2]

In 2007, Refresco takes over the Netherlands-based Sun Beverages, thereby expanding its Dutch and Belgian production locations. In 2009, a Bavaria based beverage company known as known as Schiffers Food was taken over by Refresco.

With the acquisition of the German company Soft Drinks International, €140 million was added to turnover in 2010.

In 2013, Refresco merged with Gerber Emig, a European bottler of fruit juices. Gerber Emig's headquarters are in Bridgwater, England. Gerber Emig shareholders were allocated 30% of the company's shares and Refresco shareholders the remaining 70. In October 2013, Refresco received permission from the European Commission to take over Gerber Emig, on the condition that Gerber Emig's German branch in Waibstadt would be sold. The companies continued under the name Refresco Gerber. The juice factory in Waibstadt was sold to the Riha WeserGold Group in 2014.

More acquisitions were made in 2016. When The Sittard Bottler DIS (Dranken Industrie Sittard) was taken over by Refresco for €72 million.

On January 30, 2018, Refresco acquired Cott's carbonated soft drinks and juice bottling businesses for US$1.25 billion.^[3] The transaction included the Cott business units in North America, the U.K. and Mexico.^[4]

Based on a 1997 permit, Refresco can pump up 500,000m³ of groundwater annually for beverage production in Maarheeze. In 2018, Refresco submitted an application to increase this by 50% to 750,000m³. The provincial permit granted was in conflict with North Brabant's own groundwater policy and during the court case Refresco oversaw the closure of the factory in Maarheeze.

References