History
In 1943, the Arundel family started bottling and distributing Pepsi with only four trucks in Nassau County on Long Island. The name was Island Bottling Company until 1955 when the company went public and was renamed "Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Long Island."
In 1967, the company made its first acquisition in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Other territories were later acquired in North Carolina and the name was changed to PepCom to better reflect the total business interests of the primary shareholders, the Arundel family ("Pep" for Pepsi-Cola and "Com" for Communication, since they were also in the radio and newspaper business). Throughout the seventies, PepCom continued to acquire territories throughout North Carolina.
In October 1980, the Arundels sold PepCom to Suntory, Ltd., a privately held (family) company, making PepCom a private company once again. Suntory has worldwide businesses including liquor, beer, wine, bottled water, and restaurants, in addition to our soft drink business. Suntory is also the master franchisee of Pepsi-Cola, Subway and Häagen-Dazs for Japan.
PepCom continued to invest heavily in the business. On October 1, 1991, PepCom purchased PCBC of Selma, North Carolina. In the spring of 1999, we completed the construction of a new warehouse and separate Vending Service Center on 42 acres of property in Southeast Raleigh.
On July 10, 1999, Pepsi Bottling Ventures, LLC was born when we concluded our merger with PepsiCo, gaining “Anchor Bottler” status, and merged the then current PepCom with Pepsi-Cola’s Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Statesville, Elkin, and Wilmington territories, making it the third largest Pepsi-Cola bottler in the U.S. Shortly thereafter, the Goldsboro and Boone, NC franchises were added to our company.
In the Summer of 2002, PBV began operation of a state-of-the-art, 290,000 sq. ft. production facility next to our Warehouse in Southeast Raleigh. This facility has the capacity to produce more than 1 billion containers of soft drinks per year and, for the first time in North Carolina, produce and package Aquafina.
In August 2004, PBV acquired Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Salisbury, MD, located on the Delmarva Peninsula. This acquisition enabled PBV to branch into new territories in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
In November 2007, PBV acquired L.E. Farrell Pepsi of Burlington, VT. They have a distribution facility in Burlington and service 11 of 14 Vermont counties.
In February 2009, PBV acquired Nagel Beverage Company of Boise and the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Twin Falls, Idaho. This added two more distribution sites and a manufacturing facility.
In December 2009, PBV acquired the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Conway, S.C. The Conway franchise includes Horry and Marion counties, encompassing the resort area of Myrtle Beach and serviced by the Conway facility.
In July 2012, PBV expanded its operations in Winston-Salem, N.C. with capital investment in a new facility that allows for streamlined operations and vertical integration of production.
In June 2013, a major realignment of PBV’s franchise territories was achieved. The Pepsi-Cola Company swapped a five county area in North Carolina, including Charlotte, to PBV for territories in Idaho and Vermont. PBV also sold its New York territories of Suffolk and Nassau counties to the Honickman Group.
In April of 2016, PBV opened a new 200,000 square-foot sales and distribution facility located on 32 acres off highway 49 in the Town of Harrisburg, North Carolina. The new sales and distribution center positions PBV to better serve the Charlotte market for many years.
Lastly, in November of 2017, PBV opened a new, state-of-the-art, 250,000 square-foot sales and distribution facility in St. Pauls, North Carolina. The new facility will allow PBV to serve customers in southeastern North Carolina for many years to come.
PBV remains the largest privately-held bottler of Pepsi-Cola products in North America, operating 18 bottling and distribution facilities that serve over 8 million consumers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware.