Lessons from a legacy: Keeping business and family in balance to create a multigenerational enterprise

In the late 19th century, Bruce Grossman’s great-grandfather, a German immigrant to the United States, caught wind of a booming mining industry in Mexico. Just like the savvy entrepreneurs of the Californian gold rush, Leo Fleishman saw gold not in the mines, but in selling provisions to the miners. He moved to Zacatecas and, with a partner, began hauling water to the thirsty workers — a venture that would lay the foundation for a remarkable legacy.

Fleishman transitioned from water to soft drinks, founding La Pureza in 1912. Recognizing the rising popularity of Coca-Cola in the United States, his son HH Fleischman proposed they secure the rights to bring it to Mexico. A trip to Atlanta later, they had the permit and established Mexico’s first Coca-Cola plant. From then on, they bottled soft drinks and flavored water, catering to the influx of foreign oil executives.

The company continued to expand, and in the 1950s, Grossman’s father, who was a thriving advertising executive in the United States, was offered an equity stake in his wife’s family business. The family relocated to Tampico, where Burton Grossman worked alongside his brother-in-law. However, as time passed, tensions grew between Fleischman’s son, the expected heir, and his son-in-law, who showed greater interest and aptitude for running the company. After discussing it with his wife, Fleischman made a bold decision.

“My grandfather decided to split the business,” explains Grossman. “Half went to my parents, and the other half to my uncle and cousins. From there, everyone had their own trajectory.”

Grossman’s father ran his side of the business with tremendous discipline, establishing governance and structure as if it were a publicly traded company. This foresight paid off when the company was listed in the 1970s, securing a “Mexican identity” amid rising hostility toward foreign firms.

The company has since grown through a series of mergers and acquisitions into Arca Continental, Latin America’s second-largest Coca-Cola bottler, with operations in Mexico, Argentina, and Ecuador. In 2017, it expanded into the US by acquiring Great Plains Coca-Cola Bottling Company, which operates across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arkansas.