Grupo GEPP

Grupo GEPP, S.A.P.I. de C.V. or known simply as GEPP (Grupo Embotelladora PepsiCo), is a Mexican beverage company based in Mexico City, Mexico. It was founded in 2011 as a merger of assets between the Mexican company Organización Cultiba, the Venezuelan company Empresas Polar, and the American multinational company PepsiCo to consolidate the operations of its brands in Mexico. The company bottles Pepsi in Mexico along with 13 other brands and as the second largest bottler in Mexico, behind Coca-Cola FEMSA but surpassing Arca Continental (AC).
GEUSA was founded in 1987 by the merger of Inmobiliaria Trieme, S.A. (founded on April 19, 1978) and Industrias Asasp, S.A. de C.V., the merged company was renamed Grupo Embotelladoras Unidas, S.A. (or GEUSA for short). The company was consolidated in 1989 as PepsiCo's main bottling company in Mexico.
In 1992, the agreement signed with PepsiCo included the operation of several bottling plants in Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Colima, and Nayarit, and the introduction of the Santorini drinking water brand in 1998. In 2003, the company acquired two smaller bottlers, Bret and GESSA, which rose from 18.3% in 2003 to 36.3% in participation in 2006 within the Pepsi system in Mexico, between 2005 and 2006, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Tabasco, Oaxaca and Chiapas were incorporated, which increased GEUSA's market share to 48.9%.
In 2008, The company already competed with Coca-Cola FEMSA in terms of market size and operational routes, with around 2,240 routes throughout Mexico.
To improve competitiveness and better merge PepsiCo's operations in Mexico in 2011, an agreement was reached with the Organización GEUSA (renamed "Cultiba" in 2012), the owner of GEUSA, and the Venezuelan company Empresas Polar, it was planned to merge the three companies, The Pepsi Bottling Group México, Gatorade México, and GEUSA to form the new entity called GEPP (Grupo Embotelladoras PepsiCo), which would produce and distribute the brands Pepsi, Gatorade, 7 Up, Lipton, Mirinda, Squirt, Santorini, Electropura, e-Pura and Be Light. The merger took place that same year and would give birth to the new company in mid-2011 as the second largest bottler in Mexico and one of the largest PepsiCo bottlers in Latin America.
In 2012, GEPP would reach its first agreement with another company, Grupo Jumex to create the Jumex Fresh beverage, which would be produced and sold under the GEPP brand and with permits from Jumex.
In 2013, the e-Pura natural drinking water brand, it became the only sodium-free water brand in its PET presentation, in that same year, an agreement was reached with Consorcio Aga for the distribution of the Mexican multi-flavored beverage Jarritos, in parallel, they were recognized by Walmart de México as the best self-service food supplier.
In 2014, GEPP would receive the “Bottler of the Year” award from PepsiCo for first time, and in 2015 the Caleb Bradham Award, awarded annually to bottlers that maintain excellent results.
In 2017, the company would receive another 7 Caleb Bradham Awards for quality, at the same time, they would win the recognition of “Active and Healthy Company” by the Queremos Mexicanos Activos (QUEMA) organization. On April 4, 2017, Polmex Holdings acquired 11% of GEPP's shares to Controladora de Negocios Geusa, subsidiary of Cultiba, increased its stake to 40%.
In 2018, the returnable glass bottle was launched, making beverage production more efficient and streamlined and reducing recycling. On June 11, 2018, the closure of GEPP's operations and plant in the Mexican city of Ciudad Altamirano, Guerrero was announced due to a 19% increase in homicides. On December 27, 2018, an agreement was signed for the acquisition of plastics manufacturing machinery to the Italian plastics machinery company AMUT for the production of flexible packaging and will produce shrink films to wrap grouped beverages in their different brands, with a net width of 2,400 mm and a capacity of 800 kg/hr at 50 µ thickness.
On December 20, 2019, reaching an agreement was discussed with the Mexican dairy company Alpura for the distribution of Alpura brand milk and products, something that would finally be confirmed until February 20, 2020 where the official agreement for the distribution of milk was reached.
In 2021, the company was awarded the title of “Bottler of the Year” by PepsiCo for the second time since its first occasion in 2014. On April 7, 2022, a partnership was announced with the American multinational company Honeywell to improve the efficiency of its production process and optimize operations of its logistics center.