HISTORY
1968
CCI was born out of necessity when the absence of a dependable source for canned Pepsi-Cola products in the Carolinas inspired a group of 36 independent Pepsi bottlers in North and South Carolina to invest in a joint venture to meet a shared need. And in 1968, Carolina Canners, Inc. was built under the leadership of Bobby Avent of Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Bennettsville, SC and Brantley Burnett of Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Roxboro, NC.
1972
CCI added a bottling line to fill non-returnable bottles for its customers. CCI not only produced cans, bottles, and fountain syrup for its stockholders and surrounding bottlers, but it also supplied our troops in Europe and the Middle East with quality Pepsi-Cola products. CCI also served as a joint purchasing agent for many of the Carolina area bottlers.
1982
CCI purchased Pepsi Cola of Greenville from Mr. Tom Hartness. Pepsi of Greenville and Pepsi of Florence remain some of the few independent and privately-owned Pepsi franchises in the country today. In fact, the Carolinas is one of the few regions in the country where a number of original, family-owned Pepsi franchises still exist and are operated by descendants of their founders. Some Carolina Pepsi franchises have remained in the same family for over 100 years!
2005
In 2005 CCI expanded once again by purchasing Pepsi-Cola of Florence, SC along with a Canteen full line vending franchise, Pee Dee Foodservice and catering company, Pee Dee Catering.
2017
A Pasteurized Bottle Line was added, and a new company called Southeast Hot Fill (SEHF) was formed. CCI expanded its existing building by 45,000 square feet and added new, state-of-the-art equipment to allow production of Lipton Pure Leaf tea, among other products.
2018
CCI celebrated its 50th Anniversary, by hosting a variety of events for employees and shareholders throughout a three-day celebration in November, 2018. The celebration culminated in a family picnic at the Cheraw State Park, where over 500 employees and family members joined the celebration and were treated to lunch catered by Pee Dee Foods, and of course plenty of Pepsi! It was truly special to commemorate such a tremendous milestone, while recognizing the hard work and dedication of so many!
2019
A centralized recycling operation was added for CCI’s bottling partners to process for recycling raw materials to include PET bottles, aluminum cans, plastic shrink wrap and stretch film, plastic strapping, corrugated and paperboard, plastic drums, and pallets.
Present
Today, CCI supplies many of the original stockholders and neighboring bottlers with the highest of quality soft drinks from a very modern production center still located in Cheraw, SC. CCI has expanded many times and now has a flexible can production line equipped with three fillers, two bottle production lines, a hot-fill pasteurized bottling line and a fountain syrup production line producing numerous brands, flavors, and packages of water, fruit juice drinks, tea, energy drinks and carbonated and non- carbonated soft drinks.
