The company was originally a private enterprise, started in 1940 by Rafael Victor Jiménez Zamudo. In the 1960s, Jíménez began using
tetra paks and acquired its Northern plant from
Canada Dry, along with a franchise to produce and market these products. Two plants were opened in the 1960s. In 1980, the company was fourth in the soft drink market in Mexico. On May 31, Jiménez and others confronted the striking workers at the plant in
Colonia Tránsito. Violence broke out and two strikers were killed, with seventeen wounded. Jiménez was formally accused of murder but was not prosecuted. After years of being idle, the new worker/owners needed about 1.5 million dollars to restart operations. There were two small auctions but the money being raised was not sufficient and the continued selling of the artworks became difficult. Pascual does not see itself as a private, for-profit company; they claim that being worker-owned, they perform a social function and as such expropriation in their favor is for public benefit. Since their founding, they have received vocal and political support from the PRD, intellectuals, writers such as
Elena Poniatowska, college students and those opposed to
globalization. Despite its problems, the cooperative has grown, opening major processing plants in
San Juan del Río, Querétaro, in 1992, one in
Tizayuca,
Hidalgo, in 2003 and another in
Culiacán, Sinaloa, in 2006. Despite its growth, the cooperative has had to rebut assertions that it is going broke. Today, Pascual Boing is the only remaining wholly Mexican owned major soft drink bottler. In 2003, the company partnered with the federal government to circulate information about the prevention or kidnapping of children which included announcements on Pascual Boing trucks and materials for schools. ==Products and production==