Back to The Business of the Coca-Cola Company
The Company is the largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of soft drink concentrates and syrups in the world.
The business of the Company is nonalcoholic beverages, principally soft drinks but also noncarbonated beverages, including juice and juice-drink products.
The Company manufactures beverage concentrates and syrups and, in certain instances, finished beverages, which are sold to bottling and canning operations, authorized fountain wholesalers and some fountain retailers. In addition, The Company has substantial ownership interests in numerous bottling and canning operations.
The Company owns more than 160 brands, including soft drinks and noncarbonated beverages such as sports drinks, juice drinks, milk products, water products, teas and coffees.
The Company's operating management structure consists of five geographic
groups plus The Minute Maid Company. The geographic groups are
the Africa
Group;
the Greater Europe Group;
the Latin America Group;
the
Middle and Far East Group;
and the North America Group.
The Minute
Maid Company (a division of the Company previously known as Coca-Cola Foods)
produces, distributes and markets principally juice and juice-drink products.
The Company manufactures and sells soft drink and noncarbonated beverage concentrates and syrups, including fountain syrups, some finished beverages, and certain juice and juice-drink products.
Syrups are composed of sweetener, water and flavoring concentrate. The concentrates and syrups for bottled and canned beverages are sold by the Company to authorized bottling and canning operations.
The bottlers or canners of soft drink products either combine the syrup with carbonated water or combine the concentrate with sweetener, water and carbonated water to produce finished soft drinks. The finished soft drinks are packaged in authorized containers bearing the Company's trademarks for sale to retailers or, in some cases, wholesalers.
Fountain syrups are manufactured and sold by the Company, principally in the United States, to authorized fountain wholesalers and some fountain retailers. (Outside the United States, fountain syrups typically are manufactured by authorized bottlers from concentrates sold to them by the Company.) Authorized fountain wholesalers (including certain authorized bottlers) sell fountain syrups to fountain retailers. The fountain retailers use dispensing equipment to mix the syrup with carbonated or still water and then sell finished soft drinks or noncarbonated beverages to consumers in cups and glasses.
Finished beverages manufactured by the Company are sold by it to authorized bottlers or distributors, who in turn sell these products to retailers or, in some cases, wholesalers. Both directly and through a network of brokers, juice and juice-drink products are sold by the Company to retailers and wholesalers in North America and, to a limited extent, also distributed outside North America.
Volume is measured in two ways
[1] Gallon shipments of concentrates and
syrups and
[2] Unit cases of finished product.
Gallon shipments represent the primary business and measures the volume
of concentrates and syrups sold to the bottling system. Most revenues are
based on this measure of "wholesale" activity.
Volume is also
measured in unit cases, which represent the amount of finished product the
bottling system sells to retail customers. The Company believes unit case
volume more accurately measures the underlying strength of their business system
because it measures trends at the retail level. Fountain syrups sold directly to
our customers are included in both measures.
To fulfill the mission to maximize share-owner value over time, The
Coca-Cola Company and its subsidiaries have developed a comprehensive business
strategy focused on four key objectives:
[1] Increasing volume,
[2]
Expanding share of beverage sales worldwide,
[3] Maximizing long-term
cash flows and
[4] Improving economic profit and creating economic value
added.
These objectives are achieved by strategically investing in the
high-return beverages business and by optimizing the cost of capital through
appropriate financial policies.
The investment strategy focuses primarily on the four fundamental drivers
of the busines ie
Bottling operations,
Capital expenditures,
Marketing activities and
People.
In developing and emerging markets, where increasing the penetration of the beverage products is the primary goal, most of the investments is directed to infrastructure enhancements, production facilities, distribution networks, sales equipment and technology. Investments are made by acquiring or forming strategic business alliances with local bottlers and by matching local expertise with the Company's experience and focus. In highly developed markets, where the primary goal is to make the Company's products the beverages consumers prefer, most of the expenditures is directed to marketing activities.
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