The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a beverage retailer, manufacturer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The Coca-Cola formula and brand was bought in 1889 by Asa Candler who incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in 1892. Besides its namesake Coca-Cola beverage, Coca-Cola currently offers more than 500 brands in over 200 countries or territories and serves 1.6 billion servings each day.[5]
The company operates a franchised distribution system dating from 1889 where The Coca-Cola Company only produces syrup concentrate which is then sold to various bottlers throughout the world who hold an exclusive territory. The Coca-Cola Company owns its anchor bottler in North America, Coca-Cola Refreshments.
The Coca-Cola Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Its stock is listed on the NYSE and is part of DJIA, S&P 500 Index, the Russell 1000 Index and the Russell 1000 Growth Stock Index. Its current chairman and CEO is Muhtar Kent.
An increased consumer preference for healthier drinks has resulted in slowing growth rates for sales of carbonated soft drinks (abbreviated as CSD), which constitutes 78% of KO’s sales. [3] KO’s profits are also vulnerable to the volatile costs for the raw materials used to make drinks - such as the corn syrup used as a sweetener, the aluminum used in cans, and the plastic used in bottles. Furthermore, slowing consumer spending in Coke's large North American market compounds the challenge of increasing costs[4] and a weak economic environment. Finally, Coca-Cola earns approximately 75% of revenue from international sales, exposing it to currency fluctuations, which are particularly adverse with a stronger U.S. Dollar (USD).
Despite these challenges, Coca-Cola has remained profitable. Though the non-CSD market is growing quickly,