$1.5B Red Bull beverage factory in Concord finally moves ahead with construction
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Red Bull begins $1.5B Concord factory with Rauch and Ball Corp., creating 700 jobs
- Facility will span 2M square feet, reach full capacity by 2031, producing 3B cans
- Local grants total over $60M as companies expand investment from initial $740M
Four years after announcing plans for a billion-dollar factory in Concord, energy drink giant Red Bull is finally moving forward with those plans.
The Fuschl, Austria-based company will start construction soon on the long-awaited beverage manufacturing site in Concord at the old Philip Morris cigarette manufacturing site. The project between Red Bull and two other companies will bring a total $1.5 billion investment and up to 700 jobs to the area, according to Red Bull.
Groundbreaking for the joint project between Red Bull, Rauch North America and Ball Corp. is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9, according to Brian Hiatt, interim executive director of the Cabarrus County Economic Development Corp.
“This is a project that brings great jobs and good investment to the county,” Hiatt said. “So we’re very excited to see it start.”
Red Bull anticipates that the facility will start operations by 2028, with maximum capacity expected by 2031, according to the company.
Red Bull did not provide additional comments about the project or the reasons for the construction delays, as of Friday.
Red Bull and Rauch plan to build a beverage manufacturing, filling, and distribution center across 2 million square feet at The Grounds at Concord.
The industrial park is the former Philip Morris cigarette manufacturing site, down the road from Charlotte Motor Speedway.
This is the second U.S. manufacturing plant for the companies, according to Red Bull. The facility will have enough room for 3 billion cans annually.
Ball Corp., an aluminum beverage packaging company based in Colorado, will also be adding its own 800,000-square-foot site to the industrial park. Ball plans to manufacture aluminum cans for Red Bull and other clients.
The Charlotte Business Journal first announced the construction date.
Incentives details
Red Bull and Rauch first announced their plan to open a facility in Concord in July 2021.
The initial deal included the creation of more than 400 jobs and an investment of $740 million in Concord by 2027. Days later, Ball Corp. joined the duo, adding 220 jobs and a $383.8 million investment for a project that would debut in 2027. That start date is now 2028.
In 2022, Cabarrus County commissioners approved higher incentive amounts for Red Bull and Rauch, both of which increased their planned investments.
Red Bull would now spend $424 million and Rauch would invest $680 million. Combined with Ball Corp., the three companies would invest $1.5 billion into Concord and Cabarrus County, according to county documents.
Red Bull is set to receive over $24 million in grant funding and Rauch will receive $37.2 million from the city and Cabarrus County, according to the county. It’s unclear how much Ball Corp. is receiving.
More on Red Bull, Rauch, Ball Corp.
Red Bull was founded in the mid-1980s by Dietrich Mateschitz, taking inspiration from East Asian functional drinks. He launched Red Bull Energy Drink in Austria in April 1987. This marked the creation of energy drinks in the beverage industry, according to the company.
The company employed close to 20,000 people and sold more than 12 billion cans of Red Bull last year, according to the company’s profile. Red Bull reported net sales of $11.7 billion last year, a 6.4% increase from 2023.
Rauch North America, Inc., a branch of the Austrian beverage company Rauch Fruchtsäfte, is a European fruit juice producers. With a co-packing facility in Glendale, Arizona, Rauch specializes in filling beverage cartons, cans and bottles for other manufacturers such as Red Bull.
Ball Corp., based in Westminster, Colorado, produces aluminum packaging, recyclable cans and containers for beverages, food and household products.
This story was originally published September 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
