Cott - History

History

The history of Cott goes back to 1923, when Cott Beverage Corporation was founded by Solomon Cott, a Polish immigrant, and his son Harry, in Port Chester, New York. Harry Pencer, a clothier from Montreal, Canada, began to import Cott sodas into Quebec, Canada, in 1952. In 1955 Pencer acquired the Canadian rights to the Cott label and established Cott Beverages (Canada) Ltd., to bottle the Cott line of sodas. From 1976 to 1991, Cott expanded its distribution throughout Canada and back into the US and into Europe. During the 1960s and 1970s, labels for its products were printed with the slogan "It's Cott to be good". Vess Beverage assets and its division, Vess Specialty Packaging Company, was purchased in 1994. In 1969, the name was changed to Cott Beverages Ltd., and in 1991 to Cott Corporation.

From 1992 to 1996, Cott was headed by Heather Reisman, founder of Indigo Books & Music.

In October 2000, Concord Beverages, with its Vintage brand seltzer water, was acquired from Honickman Group. In April 2007, Cott was said to be considering a bid for Cadbury Schweppes soft drinks business. In 2007, in conjunction with the premiere of the The Simpsons Movie, Cott partnered with 7-Eleven to produce "Buzz Cola", a fictional soda found in the The Simpsons television series. In late February 2008, Cott was served notice by its key customer, Wal-Mart, that shelf space for some soft drinks made by Cott for them would be reduced. Nearly a year later in January 2009, Wal-Mart informed Cott it was terminating a 10-year-old pact under which Cott had been supplying the company with store-branded soft drinks.

In July 2010, Cott announced its acquisition of Cliffstar Corporation, a US supplier of store-branded beverages.