Horizons Atlanta
Feb 27, 2018 12:00 PM
John Brock, Retired CEO, Coca-Cola European
Horizons Atlanta

John Brock retired as Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola European Partners, the world’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler by net sales, at the end of 2016.  He joined Procter & Gamble after college and in 1983 was recruited by Cadbury Schweppes to head technical and operational functions in North America. In 1988, he was promoted to the head of marketing for global beverages at Cadbury Schweppes.

In 1990, he was named president of Cadbury Schweppes’ international beverage division. Two years later, he was named president of Cadbury’s European Beverages business, and soon thereafter became president of North America. While in this position, Brock and his team organized the acquisition of Dr Pepper/Seven Up.  In March of 2000, he was named Chief Operating Officer of Cadbury Schweppes and chairman of Dr Pepper/Seven Up Bottling Group’s Board of Directors. Later that year, he was named Beverage Industry’s Executive of the Year.

In 2003, Brock was named CEO of Interbrew, headquartered in Brussels (Belgium). In 2004, John and his team orchestrated the combination of Interbrew with AmBev of Brasil to form InBev, the largest brewer in the world by volume, and John was named CEO. Global brands of InBev include Stella Artois, Becks and Brahma.

In April 2006, Brock joined Coca-Cola Enterprises as CEO, and in April 2008 was named Chairman of the company. Under his leadership, Coca-Cola Enterprises sold its North American operations to The Coca-Cola Company and acquired bottling operations in Norway and Sweden in October 2010, forming the world’s third-largest independent Coca-Cola bottler.  In 2016, he and his team led the company into a merger with two other Coca-Cola bottlers, Coca‑Cola Iberian Partners and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke, to form Coca-Cola European Partners.  

Brock is co-owner and Senior Strategic Advisor of Team Envy, a leading eSports team headquartered in Dallas, TX.  He currently serves on the board of Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and previously served as a Director of Dow Jones & Company, The Campbell Soup Company and Reed Elsevier, Plc in London. John also serves on the Executive Board of MidOcean Partners in New York.  As a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus from Georgia Tech, John has served on the President’s Advisory Board and is chair of the Georgia Tech Foundation.  John is chair of the Board of Directors of Horizons Atlanta, on the Board of Visitors for Owen Business School at Vanderbilt University, serves as Director of the Buckhead Coalition, and previously served as Chairman of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

Brock was born in Moss Point, Mississippi, and earned his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Tech. ​  He and his wife Mary have three children and seven grandchildren.

INTRODUCTION: Irene Johnson
INVOCATION: David Moore