What Pepsi-Cola does

Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Central Virginia (PCVA) is a privately held, family-owned PepsiCo franchise bottler founded in 1908 by Samuel Jessup, holding the oldest written and recorded Pepsi franchise agreement in the United States. The company operates three production and distribution facilities in Charlottesville, Warrenton, and Weyers Cave, Virginia, employing 397 people across the Central Virginia territory with 3,248 combined years of service. Its core operation consists of bottling, canning, and Bag-in-a-Box syrup concentrate production at the Charlottesville plant (52 products manufactured in-house) combined with wholesale distribution of a 555-SKU portfolio that includes flagship PepsiCo carbonated brands (Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Dr Pepper, MUG, Starry, Bubly, Crush, Schweppes), Gatorade sports drinks, distributed energy and wellness brands (Celsius, Rockstar, Muscle Milk, Aquafina, Life WTR, Propel), and teas, juices, and specialty imports (Lipton, Pure Leaf, Brisk, Dole, Starbucks RTD, Cheerwine, Vit-Hit, Dr. Wham).

PCVA generates revenue through B2B wholesale beverage distribution via a Direct Store Delivery (DSD) model using company-owned trucks, route sales drivers, account managers, and dedicated CDL delivery personnel serving grocery chains, convenience stores and gas stations, restaurants and food service accounts (fountain and Bag-in-a-Box), and independent retailers and consumers. The company also delivers, installs, and maintains vending, cooling, and fountain equipment at customer sites, creating an embedded equipment-services revenue stream. Pricing is invoice-based B2B wholesale with no publicly disclosed retail pricing, and credit card payments incur a 3% convenience fee. Approximately 35% of distributed volume is produced in-house, with the balance sourced from PepsiCo and other manufacturers. PCVA was recognized as PepsiCo's Donald M. Kendall Bottler of the Year in the Southern Division for 2024 and has won the Caleb Bradham Award for bottling excellence three times.

Name

Pepsi-Cola

Legal name

Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Central Virginia

Website

https://pepsicva.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1908

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Central Virginia is a family-owned PepsiCo franchise bottler founded in 1908 that produces, bottles, and distributes 555 carbonated and non-carbonated beverage SKUs across Central Virginia via Direct Store Delivery to grocery, convenience, and food service accounts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Beverage Bottling and Distribution

NAICS

Soft Drink Manufacturing (312111), Beverage Manufacturing (3121)

SIC

Bottled & Canned Soft Drinks & Carbonated Waters (2086), Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Carbonated Soft Drink Manufacturing (CSD) (AFAFABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Non-Alcoholic Beverage Concentrates, Syrups & Bases Manufacturing (AFAFABAM), Soft Drink & Carbonated Beverage Syrups (AFAFAGAA)

Keywords

• Beverage bottling
• Beverage distribution
• Carbonated soft drinks
• Fountain syrup products
• Sports and energy drinks

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlottesville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Beverage Distribution: Wholesale beverage distribution to retailers including grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, and independent consumers. PCVA produces many carbonated beverages at their production facility while sourcing non-carbonated brands and some additional carbonated brands from other manufacturers for distribution.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Central Virginia (PCVA) manufactures, bottles, and cans carbonated beverages at its Charlottesville facility and distributes a portfolio of 555+ carbonated and non-carbonated beverages across Central Virginia. PCVA produces 52 products in-house (bottles, cans, and Bag-in-a-Box syrup concentrate for fountain machines) and sources the remaining products from other manufacturers for wholesale distribution to grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, and retailers.

Product overview

Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Central Virginia is a beverage bottling and distribution company operating as part of the Pepsi-Cola franchise system since 1908. The company operates as a bottler that produces certain carbonated beverages (primarily Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Dr Pepper, and related brands) at its Charlottesville facility while distributing a broad portfolio of 555+ products across Central Virginia through multiple package sizes and formats. The product portfolio includes flagship cola brands (Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar), citrus beverages (Mountain Dew), pepper-style sodas (Dr Pepper), root beer (MUG), lemon-lime sodas (Starry), sparkling waters (Bubly), sports drinks (Gatorade variants), energy drinks (Rockstar, Celsius, Fast Twitch), bottled waters (Aquafina, Life WTR, Propel), teas (Lipton, Pure Leaf, Brisk), juices (Dole), mixers (Schweppes), and specialty beverages (Muscle Milk, VIT-HIT). The company produces approximately 35% of the products it distributes, with the remainder sourced from other manufacturers. Local production at the Charlottesville plant includes bottles, cans, and Bag-in-a-Box syrup concentrate for fountain machines. The company has won the Caleb Bradham Award for bottling three times.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Vit-Hit: Irish beverage brand that PCVA distributes, first in the United States since 2015.

Products and services

• Pepsi-Cola
• Mountain Dew
• Dr Pepper
• Gatorade Sports Drinks
• Energy Drinks (Rockstar, Celsius, Mountain Dew AMP, Fast Twitch, Bubly Bounce)
• Sparkling Water (Bubly, Bubly Bounce)
• Bottled Water (Aquafina, Life WTR, Propel)
• Tea Beverages (Lipton, Pure Leaf, Brisk)
• Fruit Juices (Dole)
• Mixers and Specialty Sodas (Schweppes, MUG Root Beer, Starry, Crush, Cheerwine, VIT-HIT, Dr. Wham)
• Starbucks Ready-to-Drink Beverages
• Muscle Milk Protein Beverages
• Bag-in-a-Box Syrup Concentrate for Fountain Machines
• Direct Store Delivery and Merchandising Service
• Equipment Services (Vending, Cooling, and Fountain Equipment)

Quantifiable outcome

• Produces 35% of distributed products in-house
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Vit-HitminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2015PCVA signed agreement in 2015 to begin distributing Vit-Hit, an Irish beverage brand, as the first distributor in the United States. Vit-Hit is described as a mix of tea, juice, and water with vitamins.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Coca-Cola FEMSA: Large Coca-Cola franchise bottler operating primarily in Latin America. Operates the same franchise-bottler-with-manufacturing business model as PCVA, but in geographies outside PCVA's territory, making it a comparable model benchmark rather than a direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Reyes Beverage Group: Major independent DSD distributor of beer, soft drinks, and other beverages, including a Coca-Cola system role. Operates route-based direct-store delivery at scale, directly comparable to PCVA's DSD go-to-market motion across grocery, c-store, and foodservice channels.
• Breakthru Beverage Group: Large independent beverage distributor with a route-based DSD model across multiple U.S. markets, focused on beer, wine, and spirits. Comparable go-to-market motion (route delivery to grocery, c-store, and on-premise) and similarly structured distribution operations.
• Coca-Cola Consolidated: Largest Coca-Cola bottler in the U.S., operating a similar franchise bottler model with manufacturing, warehousing, and direct-store delivery across multiple states. Closest publicly comparable analog to PCVA's business model of producing carbonated beverages and distributing via DSD.
• Pepsi Bottling Ventures: Large independent Pepsi bottler formed via consolidation of multiple Pepsi franchise territories across the U.S. Southeast. Directly comparable to PCVA as a PepsiCo franchise bottler, but at materially larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• Swire Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola franchise bottler covering 13 western U.S. states with manufacturing and DSD distribution. Comparable franchise bottling model and product mix to PCVA, though at significantly larger geographic scale.
• Coca-Cola Bottling Co. UNITED: Family-owned Coca-Cola franchise bottler with manufacturing and DSD distribution across the southeastern U.S. Closely mirrors PCVA's profile of a family-operated franchise bottler producing carbonated beverages in-house and distributing a broad portfolio via route sales.
• Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages: Mid-sized Coca-Cola franchise bottler operating in the Northeast U.S., producing and distributing carbonated soft drinks via DSD. Similar size profile to PCVA and operates the same franchise-bottler-with-in-house-production model.

Emerging players

• Monster Beverage: Independent energy drink manufacturer distributed through Coca-Cola's DSD network and other channels. Overlaps with PCVA's energy drink portfolio (Rockstar, Fast Twitch, Celsius) as a competing brand in the same on-the-go and convenience channels PCVA serves.

Broad incumbents

• Keurig Dr Pepper: Major North American beverage manufacturer with bottling operations and a portfolio that overlaps PCVA's distributed brand list (Dr Pepper, Schweppes, Bubly, Crush, Snapple). Comparable as an upstream supplier/brand owner whose products flow through PCVA's distribution network.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pepsi-Cola