Coca-Cola Amatil - Background Information

First, we need to discover the history to understand the present. Coca-Cola Amatil was originally a tobacco company in 1904, namely the British Tobacco Company Limited. In 1909, the company diversified its operations by branching into packaging. They continued these ventures until the 1960’s when it made a move into the Australian food and beverage industry. Australian’s were originally introduced to Coca-Cola in World War Two by the American troops. By mid-1960s Coca-Cola was a household name. Shortly after this, the path of the company changed with the acquisition of Coca-Cola bottlers Pty Ltd in Perth. A video of how Coca-Cola Amatil was born can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFKsFgS6SMc

What does Amatil mean? I have never really thought much about it. After conducting research about the history of Coca-Cola Amatil, I found the answer to that question. Amatil is short for Allied Manufacturing and Trade Industries Limited. Amatil Limited was adopted in 1977 after 50 years under the British Tobacco Company Limited name. Following this name change, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they branched into European markets in both Coca-Cola bottling franchises and snack foods.

In the mid to late 1980s further expansion across Australia and Pacific franchises in Fiji and Wellington were obtained. Amatil Ltd also grew its brand portfolio to include Ecks and Deep Spring mineral water. Narrowing the focus of the business to snack food and beverages Amatil Ltd parted with their interest in tobacco. This is when the Coca-Cola Company became the major shareholder of Amatil, subsequently, Coca-Cola Amatil was born.

In the early 1990s, CCA continued to expand across the region, entering into joint ventures in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Through the remainder of the ’90s, CCA continued its expansion throughout Australia and New Zealand. At the close of the decade, the European interests were demerged into its own entity, Coca-Cola Beverages Plc.

Brand acquisition took place over the next decade throughout Australia and New Zealand where CCA secured Neverfail Spring Water, Peats Ridge Springs, Baker Halls, SPC Ardmona and Grinders Coffee. CCA also became the sole licensee of Coca-Cola products in Australia, after the purchase of the Northern Territory Coca-Cola franchise in 2004.

In the mid-2000s CCA expanded their product portfolio again, with the inclusion of alcohol in the range of premium beer, wine, spirits and ready-to-drink beverages. This began the relationship with the company that is now known as Beam Suntory. In 2012, Paradise Beverages (Fiji) Limited joined the CCA family, closely followed by a collaboration with the Casella Family to introduce the Australian Beer Company in 2013.

Most recently CCA have proven to be leaders in the beverage packaging and bottling industry after building multiple state of the art facilities in Australia. CCA is one of the largest bottlers in the Asia-Pacific region and distributors of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, in addition to being one of the largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products globally. This is how Coca-Cola Amatil came to be the company that it is today.

Some media links for Coca-Cola Amatil

https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/coca-cola-amatil-to-sell-historic-spc-business-for-40-million-20190604-p51u8b.html

https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/cocacola-amatil-fullyear-underlying-profit-falls-lifts-dividend-20180220-h0wcxk

https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/cocacola-amatil-loses-dominos-pizza-contract-to-pepsischweppes-20170706-gx5n9z