Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) celebrated 50 years of the first Coca-Cola product made at the Northmead site in NSW on 25th September 1972.
The first product to roll off the line at the Northmead site was a can of Tab, the predecessor of Diet Coke and Coke No Sugar, which were Coca-Cola’s first ever low-or-no calorie cola drink.
The site has grown significantly over the years and has a surface area of 40,000 square meters, CCEP’s second largest site by footprint, volume and headcount in all of Australia.
Northmead is also the 13th largest volume producer of all CCEP sites around the world – taking in Europe, Australia and the Pacific. The product CCEP makes the most of at Northmead is Coca-Cola No Sugar, which one of the fastest growing products in their beverage portfolio.
Other beverages made and bottled at the site include Mount Franklin, Kirks, Fanta, Cascade, Pump, Mother, Deep Spring and Neverfail.
Much has changed since 1972, according to CCEP, with technology allowing them to make more beverages quickly and embedding sustainability across all aspects of operations, from water stewardship to the company’s use of recycled content in packaging.
Plenty has also remained the same, explained Orlando Rodriguez, vice president of Supply Chain – Australia at CCEP.
“Our commitment to great people, great service and great beverages has been unwavering. At Northmead, in the heart of Sydney’s west, we now make 250 different products from 20 different brands and boast a headcount that exceeds 380 dedicated employees with a remarkable average tenure of 17 years.”
To celebrate the milestone, the team at Northmead came together for a special gathering. Cutting the cake were Van Ke Nguyen, Northmead’s longest serving employee at 41 years of service; Priscila Pacheco Maciel, Northmead’s newest team member on-site; Orlando Rodriguez; and Jose Antonio Echeverría, chief customer service and supply chain officer at CCEP.
Northmead employees also reflected on 50 years of operations in a celebratory video, which can be found here.