Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong, marking its sixtieth year of operation, is offering the public an unprecedented look inside its usually inaccessible Sha Tin bottling facility, the world’s tallest of its kind. This rare opportunity centres around the newly enhanced Hong Kong Coca-Cola Museum with three exclusive guided tours scheduled for March 7. These sessions celebrate the brand’s deep-rooted history in the city and offer insight into modern manufacturing and sustainability efforts.
The one-hour guided experience, titled The Bottling Hunt, functions as an interactive journey tracing the brand’s “Made in Hong Kong” narrative, engaging both adults and children beyond a typical museum structure. It aims to solidify understanding of how Coca-Cola integrated into the local lifestyle while showcasing the technological advancements and environmental commitments of the modern plant.
Tracing the Coca-Cola Legacy in Hong Kong
The tour’s starting point provides a visual feast of heritage, exhibiting various bottle designs and brand collectibles spanning several decades. Visitors are then transported back to 1886 with a compelling recreation of Jacobs’ Pharmacy—the original retail location for the beverage. This segment allows attendees to fully immerse themselves in the brand’s origins, complete with period costumes and an interactive scent challenge where they take on the roles of lab assistants to Dr. John Pemberton, identifying classic flavours.
The narrative then focuses on key milestones within the local context. The journey highlights the pivotal year of 1965, when the Swire Group first secured the exclusive rights to manufacture, market, and distribute Coca-Cola products in Hong Kong. It continues through significant developments, including the completion of the advanced, vertical Sha Tin factory in 1991. Visitors will gain a unique view of the plant’s complex vertical transport systems necessary for distributing products within the high-rise structure.
From Production to Sustainability
Beyond local history, the museum displays a mix of global Coca-Cola memorabilia alongside unique Hong Kong-edition items and compelling sports-related collectibles, such as limited-edition footballs and themed toys.
The experience culminates with a strategic focus on modern production and environmental accountability. Through a viewing gallery equipped with interactive screens, visitors can observe the active production lines and gain clear insight into the complex recycling processes essential to the plant’s operational structure.
These public access sessions are particularly significant because the Sha Tin plant remains operational and is generally closed to general visitors, making this a rare chance to see how daily soft drinks are produced at a global industrial scale.
Registration Details for Exclusive Access
The special tours are scheduled for Thursday, March 7, with three one-hour sessions available: 1:30 PM–2:30 PM, 3:00 PM–4:00 PM, and 4:30 PM–5:30 PM. Admission is free, but participation is strictly limited to 30 people per session, operating on a first-come, first-served registration basis.
Registration for The Bottling Hunt officially opens on February 12 at 2:00 PM. Interested individuals must secure their spot immediately due to the extremely limited availability. Registrations can be made online via the dedicated event portal: thebottlinghuntbyswirecocacola.ievent.hk.
For those who miss the initial registration, Swire Coca-Cola HK has partnered with their COKE+ loyalty programme, offering additional exclusive opportunities for members to join these coveted tours and potentially receive unique souvenirs. This initiative underlines the company’s efforts to deepen community engagement as it celebrates six decades of operation in Hong Kong.
