COCA COLA CO (KO)

The Coca-Cola Company is a total beverage company whose products have been sold in the United States since 1886 and are now sold in more than 200 countries and territories. It owns or licenses and markets numerous nonalcoholic beverage brands and makes them available through independent bottling partners, distributors, wholesalers and retailers, as well as its own consolidated bottling and distribution operations. Beverages bearing its trademarks account for about 2.2 billion of the estimated 65 billion servings consumed worldwide each day. The company was incorporated in Delaware in 1919 and succeeded a Georgia corporation organized in 1892.

The company operates two lines of business. Concentrate operations sell beverage concentrates, syrups (including fountain syrups) and certain finished beverages to bottling partners, who produce, package and sell the finished drinks. Finished product operations, mainly the consolidated bottling and distribution businesses, sell finished beverages to retailers, distributors and wholesalers, and generally have higher revenues but lower gross margins than concentrate operations. Reporting is organized around four geographic operating segments, including Europe, Middle East and Africa and North America, plus a Bottling Investments segment and Corporate. The Global Ventures segment was sunset effective January 1, 2025, and its Costa, innocent and doğadan businesses now report within EMEA. Brands are grouped into Trademark Coca-Cola, sparkling flavors, water/sports/coffee/tea, juice/value-added dairy/plant-based beverages, and emerging beverages. They include Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Diet Coke, Powerade, Dasani, smartwater, Costa, Minute Maid, Simply, fairlife and innocent. The company has also entered alcohol ready-to-drink beverages, such as pre-mixed cocktails, flavored alcohol drinks and hard seltzers. In the U.S. it does so through a firewalled subsidiary that uses third-party manufacturers and distributors.

Customers include bottling partners, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and fountain retailers such as restaurants and convenience stores. Costa also sells directly to consumers through its stores. The Coca-Cola system sold 33.8 billion unit cases in 2025. Sparkling soft drinks were 69% of volume and Trademark Coca-Cola 47%. The United States made up 16% of unit case volume and markets outside it 84%. Mexico, China, Brazil and India together accounted for 33% of worldwide volume. The five largest independent bottlers are Coca-Cola FEMSA, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Coca-Cola HBC, Arca Continental and Swire Coca-Cola, which together represented 44% of volume. Sales are somewhat seasonal, with the second and third calendar quarters historically the highest.

Most branded products are prepared, packaged and distributed by independent bottlers under bottler's agreements, which require them to buy their concentrate or syrup requirements from the company or its authorized suppliers. In the U.S., most bottlers operate under Comprehensive Beverage Agreements with 10-year renewable terms, and the company manufactures and sells fountain syrups itself. The company sometimes acquires or takes control of bottling operations in underperforming markets, and holds noncontrolling or equity-method stakes in others. It also supports bottlers and retailers with marketing funds and dispensing equipment. The industry is highly competitive. PepsiCo is a primary competitor in many countries, and others include Nestlé, Keurig Dr Pepper, Danone, Suntory, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Kirin, Heineken, Diageo and Red Bull, along with regional and local companies, e-commerce microbrands and retailer private labels. The company cites leading brands, a worldwide bottler and distributor network and marketing capabilities as competitive strengths.