Refresco, previously known as Liko from the 1960s to 1995, is a producer of soft drinks, water, fruit juices, energy drinks, alcohol, and plant-based 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 are located in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. The company was listed on the

Amsterdam Stock Exchange Euronext Amsterdam is a stock exchange based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Formerly known as the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (), it merged on 22 September 2000 with the Brussels Stock Exchange and the Paris Stock Exchange to form Euronext. The ...

from 2015 to 2017.

History

In the early 1960s, soft drinks under the name Liko were produced at the Menken dairy factory in

Wassenaar Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a municipality and town located in the province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The Hague, Wassenaar lies north of that city on the N44/A44 highway near the Nort ...

, Netherlands. When the production of soft drinks expanded, a new Liko factory was opened in

Bodegraven Bodegraven () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The former municipality covers an area of of which is water. The former municipality of Bodegraven also includes the communities Me ...

in 1970. In 1995, Liko rebranded to Menken Drinks, from which Refresco was created through a management buy-out in 2000. 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 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 Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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 The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

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 30 January 2018, Refresco acquired

Cott Primo Water Corporation (formerly Cott Corporation) is an American-Canadian water company offering multi-gallon bottled water, water dispensers, self-service refill water machines, and water filtration appliances. The company is headquartered in ...

's carbonated soft drinks and juice bottling businesses for US$1.25 billion. The transaction included the Cott business units in North America,

the UK The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. 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 North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

's own groundwater policy and during the court case Refresco oversaw the closure of the factory in Maarheeze.

References

Soft drinks manufacturers Food manufacturers of the Netherlands Companies based in Rotterdam Dutch companies established in 2000 {{Netherlands-company-stub