When most people hear “Pepsi bottler,” they probably picture a facility full of, well, Pepsi.
But inside G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottlers’ sprawling plant on Columbus’ North Side is a dizzying assortment of drinks – countless flavors and varieties of Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Muscle Milk, Poppi and Celsius, to name a few – with more than 50,000 cases moving through the 24-hour operation each day.
And this summer, that operation got even bigger.
Columbus’ G&J Pepsi-Cola Bottlers, located at 1241 Gibbard Ave. in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood, recently wrapped a $45 million expansion that brought the facility to 375,000 square feet. The project added a 25,000-square-foot office building and more than 77,000 square feet of new warehouse space. It also allowed for over $17 million in new production equipment and technology, including autonomous material-handling systems.
The expansion also created dozens more jobs, bringing total employment at the Columbus operation to 661.
“This expansion is another vote of confidence in our city,” Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said at a ribbon-cutting event for the expanded facility on July 16. “We’re thrilled that it further strengthens one of our oldest and greatest neighborhoods. It’s great news when a Columbus business creates millions of dollars in new investment and sustains hundreds of jobs for our neighbors.”
One Columbus President Jonas Peterson attributed the central Ohio region’s strong workforce – which he added is producing jobs at a faster rate than any other region in the Midwest – to companies like G&J Pepsi.
“This growth does not happen by accident,” he said. “Companies like G&J Pepsi, they know our workforce; they know the talent pipeline; they know what it takes to be successful. And they have options. They’re choosing Columbus because Columbus delivers.”
With 14 locations across Ohio and Kentucky, G&J Pepsi is now the largest independent bottler in the PepsiCo franchise system. But its origins were much humbler.
G&J Pepsi owner TR Gross said at the ribbon-cutting that his grandparents, Nell and Walter Gross Sr., partnered with Esther and Issac Jarson in 1925 to purchase a small mineral water company in Cincinnati, which they renamed the Grand Pop Bottling Company. A decade or so of profitable business later, Pepsi-Cola came calling to offer the company a bottling franchise, which they accepted.
Over the years, the Gross and Jarson families acquired additional franchises, including one in Columbus, and eventually consolidated to become G&J Pepsi.
The Columbus plant, which opened roughly 60 years ago, celebrated the production of its 2 billionth bottle in June 2024, according to senior manager of operations Jon Walls.
“The updates just completed at this facility go beyond just a modern look; they have been designed to increase production efficiencies, safety and employee satisfaction,” TR Gross said at the event. “Maybe most importantly, today’s facility expansion is consistent with G&J’s rich history of proactively responding and investing as needed to support and drive growth at every opportunity.”
Reporter Emma Wozniak can be reached at ewozniak@dispatch.com or @emma_wozniak_ on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: G&J Pepsi grows Columbus bottling plant with new jobs, warehouse space
Reporting by Emma Wozniak, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Emma Wozniak, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
