Tracy Reading

Wis-Pak, Inc.

Wis-Pak was founded in 1969 to provide a centralized supply of canned soft drink products to its owners. A building was constructed in Watertown, Wisconsin, and equipped with a can line. Production began in 1970. Wis-Pak has since become one of the largest and most successful cooperative companies in the soft drink industry. Wis-Pak is owned by 35 Shareholders, representing 65 Pepsi-Cola franchises. Their franchises cover parts of Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. The wholly-owned subsidiaries include seven filling plants, a transportation company, a bottled water company, and a company for centralized administration. In 2004, Wis-Pak formed a majority-owned subsidiary, WP Beverages, LLC, to purchase the Pepsi-Cola franchise operations of Madison, Wisconsin and Rockford, Illinois. Additional franchises acquired by WP Beverages include Iron Mountain, MI (2006), Mitchell, SD (2008), Park Falls, WI (2017), Rock Island, IL (2018), Green Bay, WI (2019), Sault Ste Marie, MI (2022), and Logansport, IN (2022).