Coca-Cola is one of the world’s most recognisable soft drink brands, and at a state-of-the-art factory just outside Lisburn, an average of 1.4 million litres of Coca-Cola beverages are produced every day. This modern facility is the latest chapter in a long history of Coca-Cola bottling in Northern Ireland, a story that dates back to 1938 when local businessman Tom Robinson first expressed interest in bringing the iconic drink to the region.
On 17th April 1939, a franchise agreement was signed with the Coca-Cola Company, leading to the formation of the Ulster Iced Drinks Company (UIDC) on Rumford Street, off Belfast’s Shankill Road. Just a few weeks later, on 3rd May 1939, the first case of Coca-Cola produced in Northern Ireland was sold, with each bottle priced at just four old pence.
Coca-Cola’s role in the region became even more significant during World War II. With Northern Ireland serving as a strategic base for repairing and servicing U.S. aircraft, nearly one million American servicemen passed through during the war years. Thanks to Coca-Cola’s President Robert Woodruff, who famously declared that “every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5c wherever he is”, the troops stationed in Northern Ireland were regularly refreshed with the drink.
By 1952, Coca-Cola had expanded south, with the first bottling plant in the Republic of Ireland opening under Munster Bottlers of Cork. Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland operation continued to grow, rebranding as Coca-Cola Bottlers Ulster Ltd (CCBU) in 1963 and launching the distribution of Fanta Orange. The following year, the company acquired a new site in Lambeg, enabling greater production capacity. By the time Captain Terence O’Neill, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, officially opened the site in 1968, it was producing an impressive 50 million bottles of Coca-Cola, Fanta Orange, and 7UP each year.
By the 2000s, Coca-Cola’s operations across the island of Ireland had been consolidated under Coca-Cola HBC. In 2005, a decision was made to relocate to a new, purpose-built all-island bottling plant at Knockmore Hill, Lisburn. Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2010, the site remains at the heart of Coca-Cola production for both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Alongside the new bottling facility, Coca-Cola HBC also opened a Visitor Experience Centre, allowing groups to see behind the scenes of the production process. Though it temporarily closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has since reopened following a refurbishment.
Showing us around the facility, Visitor Experience Coordinator Cheryl Watterson began by explaining how Coca-Cola’s plastic bottles are made on-site.
"The process begins with rPET resin, which are little granules of recycled plastic delivered in big tonne bags each day. They are melted down at a high heat in a process known as injection moulding, where they are turned into a slick molten liquid and injected into moulds within the machine. This creates a PET preform that is then blown out like a balloon into the size and shape of the bottle.
"The next stage has three key steps: we’ve got our rinser, filler, and capper. The smaller wheel is the rinser, so the bottles are upside down; they get flipped and rinsed with water. They then move across onto our bigger wheel, which is the filler. There are 144 filling heads on this filler that fill the bottles with water. The tank behind is the carbon dioxide, so that will slowly release into each bottle to give it its fizz."
After this, the bottles are filled with Coca-Cola syrup, capped, labelled, and sent through quality control before being distributed across Ireland and beyond.
Coca-Cola HBC is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. As part of this, the Lisburn site operates a combined heat and power plant, generating its own steam, electricity, and water. The factory also sources its water locally, with two boreholes at the former Lambeg site and another two at Knockmore Hill, ensuring sustainable production.
While Knockmore Hill produces a variety of drinks including BPM, Dr Pepper, and Monster Energy, Coca-Cola remains the brand’s most beloved product. Its unique flavour is due to the secret "7X" formula, a mystery ingredient that has been tightly guarded since 1886.
"7X is the secret ingredient of Coca-Cola. It has remained a secret since its invention, and apparently, only two people in the world know what the secret ingredient is. Apparently, these two people can't travel on a plane together in case there is an unfortunate accident," Cheryl revealed.
"So, it has remained a secret and is stored securely in a big vault in Atlanta in America. This is then delivered to us here at the site and stored securely until ready for production."
For those eager to see Coca-Cola’s bottling process in action, free tours of the Coca-Cola HBC site in Lisburn are available for groups aged 13 and over. To book a visit, click here.
Video by Harry Bateman/Belfast Live
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