U$.$S$.$ bottling plants had been consolidating for decades, going from a peak of

$6,600$ in $1950$ to $500$ in $1998,$ driven by economies of scale. $101$ In $2016,$ Coke and its

bottlers had $72$ bottling plants in the U$.$S$.{?}^{102}$ These ever$-$larger plants were

increasingly complex$-$a single high$-$speed bottling line might work on only a few