“I don’t remember Hoffer without Coca‑Cola.”


For Gretchen Hoffer Farb, Co-CEO of Hoffer Plastics, the company’s partnership with Coca‑Cola isn’t just professional, it’s personal. Growing up, she remembers hearing stories about the partnership from her grandfather, seeing Coca‑Cola commercials and feeling a sense of pride that her family’s business played a role in something so beloved.

Founded in 1953 and based in South Elgin, Illinois, Hoffer Plastics is a third-generation, family-led business. For more than 40 years, it has been a strategic supplier to the Coca‑Cola system and the primary source of the valves used in its bag-in-box dispensing systems – small but essential parts that help serve Coca‑Cola beverages in restaurants, stadiums and communities around the world.

Hoffer’s relationship with Coca‑Cola is one of the company’s only partnerships that spans all three generations of family leadership, from Gretchen’s grandfather who started the business, to her father and now to Gretchen and her siblings.

Over time, that partnership has become foundational to the business. Hoffer built a dedicated manufacturing function to support Coca‑Cola products, and many employees have spent decades working on the Coca‑Cola business, creating stability for generations of employees and their families.

“It started with a valve,” Gretchen said, “and now it means people sending their kids to college.”

Hoffer is one of thousands of small and mid-sized businesses supported by the Coca‑Cola system across the United States. In one year alone, the Coca‑Cola system spends approximately $37 billion with American suppliers like Hoffer.

That impact extends even further. The Coca‑Cola system is not just a part of the American economy, it strengthens it – supporting nearly 1 million jobs and contributing $85 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product in one year. 

Decades ago, Hoffer helped develop the original bag-in-box valve that made it possible to dispense Coca‑Cola products at scale. More recently, it introduced a patented Spring Poppet Valve that aims to significantly reduce plastic use and improve operational efficiencies.

That progress is driven by collaboration and trust. “Coke makes us better,” Gretchen said. “They challenge us to think differently and keep improving.”

Today, Hoffer produces more than 135 million valves each year, connecting a local manufacturer to the broader Coca‑Cola system.

Hoffer’s impact goes beyond its own workforce. The company supports a network of local businesses that help keep operations running, from equipment suppliers to contractors.

“When you think about the impact, it goes beyond our employees,” Gretchen said. “There are many other local companies whose work supports what we manufacture for Coca‑Cola. Our plumbers, electricians and equipment builders are local family businesses.”

It also plays an active role in the community, from helping establish a local Boys & Girls Club to building a playground for children with disabilities and partnering with schools and colleges to introduce students to careers in manufacturing.

For employees, pride in being a part of the Coca‑Cola system is something they can see and feel every day. From a single facility in Illinois, Hoffer’s work reaches Coca‑Cola dispensing systems around the world, giving employees a tangible, personal connection to the global brand.

“Every valve has a story,” Gretchen said. She recalled a moment when one of her team members was out with his family and pointed to a Coca‑Cola fountain. “The valve in there is one I made,” he told his kids.

It is a simple moment, but it reflects something deeper. The work happening inside a family-owned and operated manufacturing company helps deliver products people enjoy around the world.