Ozarks Coca-Cola CEO inducted into Beverage World Hall of Fame

The Beverage World Hall of Fame inducted Edwin "Cookie" Rice, chairman and CEO of Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co., during a Sept. 22 InterBev conference in Orlando, Fla.

Rice was recognized as one of four 2010 inductees at the biannual conference, hosted by Beverage World, a nationally distributed publication honoring industry leaders, according to an Oct. 11 Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper news release.

“This award really goes to the folks back in Missouri. I provide them with the tools and get out of the way when the dust starts to fly,” Rice said in the release.

Rice started off in the warehouses of the family-owned bottling company 60 years ago and climbed through the ranks to his current position. In addition to being the chairman and CEO of Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co., Rice serves as president of the Coca-Cola Bottlers' Association and on the American Beverage Association Board of Directors, the release said.

Rice's family moved in 1920 from Kentucky to Springfield to purchase the bottling company, then called the Electric Bottling Co., according to the company's Web site.
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