Coke Florida promotes leaders for Southwest Florida market

Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, undertaking some big expansion projects in the region, recently announced some leadership changes, including naming new territory directors and territory general managers.

Known as Coke Florida, the Tampa-based company operates a 47-county footprint across the state through a territory-operating model. This operating model includes 18 territories that serve more than 21 million consumers from Jacksonville to the Keys.

The new leadership announcements include:

• Rodney Ford has been promoted to territory director, South Region. The territory includes the Fort Myers, Keys, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Sarasota and St. Petersburg territories, according to a statement. Ford has more than 30 years of experience in the Coca-Cola system, joining Coke Florida in 2015. He’s held several roles in the sales organization, the release states, and was the Fort Myers distribution center manager before being promoted to become the Territory General Manager in 2018.
• Jack Palmorn has been named territory general manager, Fort Myers. Palmorn has a broad career with the Coca-Cola system that began in front line operations. He has most recently been overseeing the Daytona and Brevard territories, the release states. As Fort Myers territory general manager, Palmorn will be responsible for “one of the fastest growing areas in the state, serving a diverse array of customers and consumers,” the release states.

In addition to those promotions, April King, territory general manager at Fort Pierce, will expand her responsibilities to include the Brevard territory, the company says.

“Coke Florida is here to be the customer’s best partner,” Jeff Ortmeier, vice president of field franchise operations at Coke Florida says in the release. “We are equally committed to be a great place to work and to be active in the communities we serve. These territory leaders are critical to our ability to do that.”

Coke Florida is also expanding its physical presence, building an 800,000-square-foot distribution and sales center in Tampa. The $250 million facility, at U.S. Highway 301 and Causeway Blvd., will include automated order fulfillment capabilities, sales and distribution operations, fleet, and storage facilities.

Coke Florida is a family-owned Coca-Cola bottler. Coke Florida markets, sells, manufactures, distributes and merchandises over 600 products of The Coca-Cola Co. and other partner companies. It’s the third largest privately held and the sixth largest Coca-Cola bottler in the United States. Coke Florida was founded in 2015.