Clinton’s Ditch Cooperative, a Cicero company that makes one of the most well-known products around the world, is celebrating 50 years in business.

The plant pumps out Pepsi and other carbonated and non-carbonated products.

The plant has nearly 200 employees, and constant assembly line of bottles crisscrossing overhead– a long way from Clinton Ditch’s origins 50 years ago.

“We had one package of cans and that was six-pack and that’s all we made,” said Tom Miller, the plant manager.

Millert wasn’t there at the very beginning, but not long after this cooperative formed in Ciceor, it was named after the 150th anniversary of the Erie Canal in 1967, nicknamed Clinton’s Ditch.

“There was 18 different New York State PepsiCo bottlers back in the mid-60’s and cans were coming into play so they all couldn’t afford to do it themselves, so they got together threw in some money and created one place to do all their can technologies,” Millert said.