History

History

We’re one of the world’s largest bottlers of drinks from The Coca‑Cola Company and our business has a strong foundation for long-term growth.
From more than 130 years, the Coca‑Cola system - The Coca‑Cola Company and its bottling partners - has reached out to consumers through its recognisable brands and unique marketing approach. Here is our story in Serbia and Montenegro.

Early years 

  • 1963  Slovenija vino, produced by Slovin, opens its first factory and starts bottling Cockta and Jupi, employing 30 people
  • 1967  Slovin signs a contract with The Coca‑Cola Company and is granted a licence to produce and sell Coca‑Cola products in Serbia
  • 1968  A new bottling factory producing Coca‑Cola starts operations in Batajnicki drum street, Zemun, the same location where Coca‑Cola is produced today. It's one of the first bottling companies in the former Yugoslavia, equipped with a production line for bottling 0.25 l returnable glass bottles and with a capacity of 18,000 bottles per hour
  • 1970  Slovin signs a contract with Schweppes International Limited of London and the Belgrade plant obtains a license to bottle Schweppes, expanding its portfolio with another internationally recognised brand
  • 1989  Slovin merges its bottling operations to form IBP Beograd. On 27 December, IBP Beograd becomes part of the Coca‑Cola HBC group, later one of the leading soft drinks manufacturers in Europe and one of the biggest bottling companies of Coca‑Cola products in the world

A growing portfolio

  • 2005 Rosa, the leading domestic non-carbonated water brand, becomes part of the Coca‑Cola system through our purchase of Vlasinka d.o.o., enriching our portolio with a selection of natural mineral water products
  • 2006  The Coca‑Cola system in Serbia buys 100 percent of the Fresh&Co company from Subotica, one of the leading producers of fruit juices in Serbia, thus complementing our portfolio of non-carbonated soft drinks with brands such as Next, Su-Voce and Joy
  • 2008  Coca‑Cola zero and energy drink Burn join the Coca‑Cola family, while the group starts distribution and sales of Heineken, Amstel, Kaiser, Schlossgold and MB beers

Growing a sustainable business

  • 2009 We form the first strategic partnership with the Faculty of Organisational Sciences in Belgrade and bring joy to children and families with the Coca‑Cola Caravan 
  • 2010 Coca‑Cola HBC Serbia and Montenegro celebrates its seventh Danube day and the fifth year of its Coca‑Cola Talents Generation summer programme
  • 2011 We receive the award for the most desirable employer in Serbia and join European Health and Safety Week. We also win a European Employee volunteering award and build on our existing support for the Red Cross
  • 2012 Coca‑Cola HBC Serbia and Montenegro wins best HR Project in Serbia
  • 2013 Coca‑Cola HBC Serbia and Montenegro wins the Business Partner 2013 award, publishes our first Integrated Report and wins the Marketing Innovation prize; Fresh&Co takes the Corporate superbrand award. We are also the proud winners of the Green Star award for Danube Day
  • 2014 We are awarded the Best of Serbia award and introduce the first Coca‑Cola Fun Run and bicycle tour. We are also recognised for our achievements in the field of communication. The same year, we form our relationship with WWF and started the Coke Summership programme. Finally, we win the My Choice award for 2014 and publish our first local sustainability report. Our biggest achievement however, is our award for corporate volunteering.

 

Investing in growth

  • 2015 the Coca‑Cola system invests €3.8m into a production facility in Serbia, opening a Juice Excellence Centre in Belgrade
  • The same year Coca‑Cola HBC Serbia and Montenegro and Air Serbia sign a strategic agreement for beverage supplies and the Belgrade premiere of Hey Bartender evokes the spirit of New York bars for our premium spirits team. We also introduce a new product, NeXt pulpy, ten years after integrating the Vlasinka factory into the Coca‑Cola system.