Coke Florida, A Black-Owned Beverage Company, Recognized As 2025 ‘Best Managed’ In The U.S.

Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, LLC (Coke Florida) – one of the largest Black-owned businesses in the U.S. – was honored as a 2025 US Best Managed Companies Gold Standard Winner, an award recognizing achievements of U.S. private companies and their management teams, Business Wire reported. 

Coke Florida’s Chief Executive Officer, Troy Taylor, called the recognition “a tremendous honor” as the award goes to companies who have been recognized four or more years as U.S. Best Managed Companies. “Being selected as a US Best Managed Company for the fourth year in a row while celebrating our 10 year anniversary is a tremendous honor,” Taylor said. 

“I am incredibly proud of our over 5,000 associates whose passion for representing our brands, serving our customers, and engaging in our communities has propelled us to achieve Gold Standard recognition.”

Sponsored by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal, the US Best Managed Companies recognition is in collaboration with a global Deloitte Private program. Coke Florida is part of a robust cohort with over 1,600 companies from more than 44 countries with this achievement. Winners in 2025 are labeled as demonstrating excellence in strategic planning and execution and staying committed to their people, in addition to demonstrating strong financial performance and governance. 

Coke Florida is the sixth largest Coca-Cola bottler in the nation, producing, selling, and distributing Coke products to a territory with more than 21 million consumers across 47 counties in the Sunshine State. The company distributes 119 million cases of product across Florida.

The recognition comes after huge leadership changes were announced in March 2025. According to Business Observer Florida, Coke Florida’s President and Chief Operations Officer, Thomas Benford, will transition out of the company into an advisory role to Taylor in late 2025. Benford has worked for the company since its curation in 2015, taking the organization to vast heights. Taylor said the once-vice president of strategy and planning has made “invaluable contributions” to Coke Florida.  

The company’s chief customer officer, Andy Hill, is also moving into an expanded role as chief customer and commercial officer, while Gerald T. Charles, Jr. recently joined the company as Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer.

RELATED CONTENT: The Future of Black Business and Entrepreneurship