Why a California company decided to manufacture 3 billion canned beverages a year in Philadelphia
The West Coast company is the first tenant at Philadelphia’s Bellwether District, a former oil refinery site.
As California-based canned beverage manufacturer DrinkPAK eyed an East Coast expansion, Pennsylvania was always at the top of their list of potential sites.
But in the end Philadelphia’s Bellwether District — the sprawling site of the former South Philadelphia oil refinery — won out not only over other states like New Jersey, but other possible Pennsylvania destinations like Scranton and the Lehigh Valley as well.
“We looked at other geographies, but ultimately we’d like to be where the people are, where the jobs are,” said Jon Ballas, president of DrinkPAK. “We’re not scared of building in large city centers. It just provides an energy that doesn’t exist out in the more general manufacturing landscapes.”
The 1.4 million-square-foot factory will be the first tenant for the 1,300-acre Bellwether District, which developer HRP Group (formerly known as Hilco Redevelopment Partners) hopes to turn into a new industrial and life sciences hub in the city.
Contractors broke ground on the manufacturing facility earlier this month, and the building’s shell should be complete by this time next year. Then construction on the internal mechanics will begin, with plans to complete it by April 1, 2027.
Once it’s operational, DrinkPAK’s manufacturing facility will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, cranking out 3 billion cans a year.
The factory will employ 174 people, largely on site because DrinkPAK doesn’t employ a lot of truck drivers. The workers will be operating the production line and managing machinery.
“We’re committed to hiring the best in the industry, [offering] competitive wages, some of the best benefit programs out there,” said Ballas. “These are very attractive jobs, high-paying jobs.”
DrinkPAK doesn’t work with the major soda or beer companies. Instead it manufactures cans for a variety of smaller, specialty beverage brands including alcoholic seltzer, energy drinks, and lower-calorie soda products.
“We’re not making your typical Coke and Pepsi,” said Ballas. “We’re making a lot of this innovative, better-for-you-type products.”
DrinkPAK was founded in 2020 and already has factories of similar capacity to its future Philadelphia facility in Southern California and in Texas.
There is some regional variation (more canned wine in California, and more health drinks on the coasts), but its production line’s output is largely determined by broad trends in the industry.
“Beverage is very cyclical,” said Ballas, and the facility needs to be designed with flexibility to make what’s most in demand. Right now, he noted protein drinks are “the hottest trend.”
“It takes a specific type of liquid handling equipment to handle all the protein hydration, to get that into solution in order to carbonate it into a can,” he said.
DrinkPAK’s facility is in the portion of the Bellwether District slated for industrial use, with the idea that warehouses and factories would be the tenants.
The HRP Group already built a 326,000-square-foot warehouse and second 727,000-square-foot warehouse, which were both built on spec — meaning without a prospective tenant in mind.
But the 3 billion-can production facility is the first official tenant.
“We’re looking forward to delivering this building for DrinkPAK and playing a small role in their company’s incredible growth trajectory,” said Andrew Chused, chief investment officer for HRP Group.
“DrinkPAK’s decision to build its flagship East Coast facility here is the first big step in turning this site into the dynamic commercial ecosystem we always envisioned,” said Chused.