News
Discussing the acquisition of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. and the future of CCEP
23/02/2024
CCBPI | Damian Gammell & Sol Daurella
Sol Daurella and Damian Gammell discuss the acquisition of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. and the future of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners.
Monday 26th February marks the first day of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. (CCBPI), becoming part of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP).
The acquisition of CCBPI, jointly with Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV), is the latest milestone in our growth story. It comes just under three years since our acquisition of Coca-Cola Amatil.
Hear from CCEP’s Chairman Sol Daurella, and CEO Damian Gammell, as they reflect on what this means for CCEP and our future.
What does this mean for CCEP?
Damian: Since the Amatil acquisition in 2021 we have been able to drive faster and more sustainable growth, as a larger, more diverse business. It almost doubled our consumer reach and increased the number of customers we serve from 1.1 million to 2 million.
With the addition of the Philippines, our reach and scale has increased again – with around €20 billion in revenue and 4 billion unit cases sold each year. CCBPI consistently delivers strong results and has great growth prospects. We are confident that together with the team in CCBPI and AEV, we’ll continue the growth momentum in the Philippines and write our next shared chapter.
Sol: This is a hugely exciting moment for CCEP. We have always been ambitious about growing our geographic footprint. And to do so with a market with such an extensive history of Coca-Cola fills me with pride.
And at the same time, we are growing our family – welcoming 9,000 engaged, committed and passionate people. The people of CCBPI represent a rich Coca-Cola heritage, within a growing market. I have had the opportunity to travel to Manila on a few occasions, where I spent time with the local teams there. I was hugely impressed by their energy, and it makes me excited for our future together.
What is the significance of becoming a bigger, more diverse business for our people, customers and shareholders?
Damian: While we have become a bigger, more international company, we do business locally. Meaning we’ve been able to make the most of our deep local insight, experience and market understanding to meet the specific needs of our stakeholders. While at the same time, our size and scale has expanded our knowledge and capabilities across customer service and execution, technology and data, to help accelerate growth. It has also enabled us to grow more sustainably in more markets, through our This is Forward sustainability action plan.
People
Sol: We are proud to be the Coca-Cola bottler in 31 countries, each with a rich culture and heritage. Since 2021, CCEP has gone from 24,000 employees to over 42,000, representing over 120 nationalities and over 60 languages. We have been able to give our people more opportunities to grow, by learning from and experiencing other countries in our expanded business.
The diversity of our people and markets has been a key reason CCEP has been able to grow. Our business thrives on the diversity that comes from all our people and sharing perspectives, experiences and backgrounds.
Customers and shareholders
Damian: We now operate across a wider range of markets, working with a wider variety of customers. This creates more opportunities to harness best practice in customer service and execution. Given our scale, we have also been able to make better use of shared services and processes, to allow the teams in markets to focus on what matters most – growing with our customers and supporting our communities
Our growth has unlocked value for our shareholders, underpinned by a stronger and more aligned relationship with TCCC and our other brand partners.
In 2024, I look forward to seeing this great work continue, building our strong brands together with The Coca-Cola Company and our other franchise partners.
The Philippines market
An 112 year bottling history of Coca-Cola
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The first outside the Americas to introduce Coca-Cola
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The 2nd most populous in South East Asia, with a large and growing young demographic
Tell us more about how you will work with AEV and The Coca-Cola Company
Damian: The acquisition is a joint venture with AEV, with CCEP owning the majority. By working together, CCEP and AEV aim to unlock even more potential for the Philippines. We are confident in the combination of AEV’s local knowledge, commitment and investment, and our international business and bottling experience. In AEV, we have a partner with their own strong track record of success over a hundred years in the Philippines in many different sectors.
Sol: We maintain a strong relationship with TCCC, working closely to understand our consumers and bring them the drinks they love. TCCC continues to be CCEP’s main franchise partner, a shareholder in CCEP, and as such, remains highly motivated in ensuring CCBPI’s future success.
What are your goals for the year ahead?
Sol: 2023 was a fantastic year, thanks to the amazing work all of our colleagues do every day. In 2024, I look forward to seeing this great work continue, building our strong brands together with The Coca-Cola Company and our other franchise partners.
It’s incredible to see how far we’ve come as CCEP and the great opportunities we still have ahead of us. I look forward to growing our business with the Philippines. Welcoming our new colleagues, the Coke Tigers, will be an immediate priority for us. Our focus is to support them to continue – and build on – the business’s already strong performance in the Philippines.
Damian: We will be continuing to invest in our business. CCEP has a strong track record of investing to support our ambitions, including investing over €850 million in 2023. In 2024, we expect to invest more than ever before – for CCEP and any bottler. We have committed almost €1 billion across our markets, including the Philippines – across technology, coolers, capacity and sustainability.
Together with the our new colleagues, we will work as one team to deliver growth for our shareholders, create value for our customers, support our people and communities, and focus on world class execution in the market.
