Coca-Cola moving from Lakeland to Winter Haven and adding 172 jobs
WINTER HAVEN — Coca-Cola Beverages Florida is expanding its local presence and jumping from Lakeland to Winter Haven, adding 170 Polk County jobs.
Coca-Cola has a distribution center in Lakeland at 1770 Interstate Drive, off Kathleen Road just south of I-4. That center employs 182 people, said Bruce Lyon, president of the Winter Haven Economic Development Council. And according to the Coca-Cola website, the center distributes 5.3 million cases of Coca-Cola annually.
But that space doesn't suit the company anymore.
"Our current location doesn't allow us the space that we need for our operations there, so we are looking for a larger location," Katrinda McQueen, director of communications for Coca-Cola Beverages Florida LLC, said. "We have been in Polk County for quite some time, so we were simply looking for opportunities in Polk County to expand our footprint."