CKE Restaurants, Inc., parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants, today announced a multi-year renewal of its beverage contract with The Coca-Cola Company. Under the terms of the agreement, Coca-Cola Foodservice, the division of Coca-Cola North America that serves the restaurant and foodservice industry, will continue to be the beverage provider for CKE, supplying soft drinks including Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite, Minute Maid juices, and Dasani waters to Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s locations nationwide.
“Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are known for our premium-quality hamburgers. And nothing goes better with our burgers than a Coke,” says Andrew Puzder, president and CEO, CKE Restaurants, Inc. “Coca-Cola brings a full range of products and support, including marketing and consumer insights, as well as the leading fountain drinks for our customers. I look forward to continuing our long and successful partnership with Coca-Cola for many more years to come.”
“We love to partner our consumer-preferred brands with Carl’s and Hardee’s because both are powerful brands in their own right,” says Chris Lowe, president of Coca-Cola Foodservice. “We look forward to continuing to help Carl’s and Hardee’s delight consumers and build their business–and ours.”
Headquartered in Carpinteria, California, CKE Restaurants, Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CKR”. As of the second fiscal quarter ending Nov. 5, 2007, CKE Restaurants, through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,036 franchised or company-operated restaurants in 43 states and 14 countries, including 1,121 Carl’s Jr. restaurants and 1,915 Hardee’s restaurants.