Buffalo Rock Company

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The Buffalo Rock Company is a family-owned beverage bottler and distributor with headquarters at 111 Oxmoor Road in Homewood and 14 distribution centers in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. It is the maker of Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale and, since 1951, the Birmingham-area bottler and distributor of Pepsi-Cola products. The CEO of Buffalo Rock is James C. Lee, III, and its president is Matthew Dent.

Buffalo Rock started as an outgrowth of Sidney W. Lee's Alabama Grocery Company, founded in 1901. The ginger-ale Lee developed with Selma chemist Ashby Coleman was an overwhelming success, eclipsing the company's other products.

The company moved from 1st Avenue North to a larger production and bottling plant 26th Street and 10th Avenue North in 1922. It was reorganized as the Buffalo Rock Company in 1927 and produced and marketed Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale, Mission Orange, Mission Grape and B-1 soft drinks. A large electric sign crowned the plant.

Lee's son James C. Lee passed the company to his son James, Jr in 1951. During the same year, the company purchased the rights to Pepsi-Cola in Birmingham. It soon added Dr Pepper and Seven-Up to the product line. In 1966 the company moved to a 15-acre site on Oxmoor Road. (The facility has since expanded to 7 buildings on 50 acres).

In 1981 Buffalo Rock added Grapico to its stable of brands. In 1984 it pioneered the 3-liter bottle. Two years later it also pioneered the 20-can mini-case, followed by 12-ounce and 20-ounce plastic bottles. In 1986 Buffalo Rock added General Foods snack food vending distribution to its business, and in 2005 it developed a new soft drink, Dr. Wham.

In 2006 Buffalo Rock was named Bottler of the Year by Beverage Industry magazine.

In 2011, Jimmy Lee III named 35-year-old Matthew Dent as the president of the company, and remained the chairman and CEO.

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References

  • Williams, Roy L. (August 4, 2007) "Pepsi CEO gets taste of Birmingham." Birmingham News
  • O'Donnell, Joe (2007) The Forge, Metal to Medicine: Birmingham's Business History. Birmingham: Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce.
  • Lewis, Herbert J. (January 30, 2009) "Buffalo Rock Company. Encyclopedia of Alabama - accessed March 3, 2009
  • Hubbard, Russell (January 23, 2011) "Buffalo Rock boss names new president." Birmingham News

External links

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