The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, announced a multi-year product and marketing agreement with Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc., the Canton, Mass.-based parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, and the National DCP, which is the exclusive supply chain partner for Dunkin’ Brands.
Under the new agreement, more than 9,400 Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins restaurants across the United States will begin the conversion to serve Coca-Cola products this month. The conversion is expected to be complete by August. The agreement includes Coca-Cola’s soft drink brands, juices, enhanced waters and energy drinks. It also includes provisions for the development of various marketing and promotional programs each year between the brands.
“The incredible combined brand appeal of Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and Coca-Cola make this an ideal relationship,” said Chris Lowe, president of foodservice and on-premise for Coca-Cola Refreshments, in a statement. “We look forward to bringing a great selection of Coca-Cola products to Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins customers and to leveraging our joint marketing capabilities to create innovative, engaging promotions designed to drive beverage sales and growth at both restaurant chains.”
In addition, The Coca-Cola Co. also announced a $2 million multi-year award to Catalyst Inc. that will help women worldwide grow and thrive in business. Catalyst is a nonprofit organization working to accelerate the advancement of women globally. The organization intends to use the funding to create the Center for Corporate Practice Research, which will analyze more than 20 years of initiatives on inclusion used by large corporations and share its findings and best practices with global markets that are working to achieve gender parity.
The donation from The Coca-Cola Foundation fits into The Coca-Cola Co.’s global commitment to empower women, which also includes its 5 By 20 initiative, which is designed to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs across its global value chain by the year 2020. The company also maintains an internal Women’s Leadership Council, which is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent, and features 17 women executives who are working to identify strategies to recruit, develop and retain women in senior leadership positions, the company said.
On March 29, Kent also was on hand to open Coca-Cola China’s 42nd bottling plant. The plant is located in Yingkou, Liaoning, and will be the largest Coca-Cola production facility in China. Spanning an area of more than 42 acres, the plan represents a $160 million investment in China and is part of a three-year $4 billion investment plan that The Coca-Cola Co. announced last year.
The facility is the company’s third bottling plant in Liaoning, and upon completion the plant is expected to reach an annual production capacity of more than 5 billion servings of sparkling and still beverages, including Coca-Cola, Sprite, Minute Maid and Ice Dew. The company plans to invest in nine production lines at the new facility with four currently in operation.
