The Coca-Cola Company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO The Coca-Cola Company (http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html? ticker=ko) ) is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage Type Public concentrates and syrups, which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.[3] The company is best Traded as NYSE: KO known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, (http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html? invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith ticker=ko) Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia.[4] The Coca- Dow Jones Industrial Average Component Cola formula and brand was bought in 1889 by S&P 500 Component Asa Candler who incorporated The Coca-Cola Industry Beverage Company in 1892. Besides its namesake Coca- Cola beverage, Coca-Cola currently offers more Founded 1892 than 500 brands in over 200 countries or Founder(s) Asa Griggs Candler territories and serves over 1.7 billion servings Headquarters Coca-Cola headquarters, [5] each day. The company operates a franchised Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. distribution system dating from 1889 where The Coca-Cola Company only produces syrup Area served Worldwide concentrate which is then sold to various bottlers Key people Muhtar Kent throughout the world who hold an exclusive (Chairman & CEO) territory. The Coca-Cola Company owns its anchor bottler in North America, Coca-Cola Products List of The Coca-Cola Company products Refreshments. Revenue US$ 48.01 billion (2012)[1] Operating US$ 10.84 billion (2012)[1] Its stock is listed on the NYSE and is part of DJIA, S&P 500 Index, the Russell 1000 Index income and the Russell 1000 Growth Stock Index. Its Net income US$ 9.01 billion (2012)[1] current chairman and chief executive is Muhtar Total assets US$ 86.17 billion (2012)[1] Kent. Total equity US$ 32.79 billion (2012)[1] Employees 146,200 (Dec 2011)[2] Contents Subsidiaries List of The Coca-Cola Company subsidiaries Website Coca-ColaCompany.com (http://www.coca- 1 Acquisitions colacompany.com/) 2 Revenue 3 Stock 4 Lobbying 5 Consumer relations 6 Bottlers 7 Civil rights 8 Criticism 9 Products and brands 10 Sponsorship 10.1 Sports 10.2 Television 11 In video games 12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links Acquisitions The company has a long history of acquisitions. Coca-Cola acquired Minute Maid in 1960,[6] the Indian cola brand Thums Up in 1993,[7] and Barq's in 1995.[8] In 2001, it acquired the Odwalla brand of fruit juices, smoothies and bars for $181 million.[9] In 2007, it acquired Fuze Beverage from founder Lance Collins and Castanea Partners for an estimated $250 million.[10] The company's 2009 bid to buy a Chinese juice maker ended when China rejected its $2.4 billion bid for the Huiyuan Juice Group on the grounds that it would be a virtual monopoly. Nationalism was also thought to be a reason for aborting the deal.[11] In One of The Coca-Cola Company's 1982, Coca-Cola made its only non-beverage acquisition, when it headquarters buildings in Atlanta purchased Columbia Pictures for $693 million. It sold the movie studio to Sony for $1.5 billion in 1989.[12] Revenue According to the 2005 Annual Report,[13] the company sells beverage products in more than 200[14] countries. The report further states that of the more than 50 billion beverage servings of all types consumed worldwide every day, beverages bearing the trademarks owned by or licensed to Coca-Cola account for approximately 1.5 billion (the latest figure in 2010 shows that now they serve 1.6 billion drinks every day). Of these, beverages bearing the trademark "Coca-Cola" or "Coke" accounted for approximately 78% of the company's total gallon sales. Also according to the 2007 Annual Report, Coca-Cola had gallon sales distributed as follows: The Coca-Cola Company's Minute Maid group North America offices in 42% in the United States Sugar Land Town Square, Sugar 37% in Mexico, India, Brazil, Japan and the People's Republic of Land, Texas, United States China 20% spread throughout the rest of the world In 2010, it was announced that Coca-Cola had become the first brand to top £1 billion in annual UK grocery sales.[15] Stock Since 1919, Coca Cola has been a publicly traded company. One share of stock purchased in 1919 for $40, with all dividends reinvested, would be worth $9.8 million in 2012, a 10.7% annual increase, adjusted for inflation.[16] In 1987, Coca Cola once again became one of the 30 stocks which makes up the Dow, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is commonly referenced as the performance of the stock market. It had previously been a Dow stock from 1932 to 1935.[17] Coca Cola has paid a dividend, increasing each year for 49 years.[18][19] Stock is available from a direct purchase program, through Computershare Trust Company, but unlike many programs, has investment fees.[20] Lobbying In the U.S., Coca-Cola is a major lobbying force working to gain favorable legislation for the beverage industry. In both 2005 and 2006, it spent $1 million each year on lobbying. In 2007, that increased to $1.7 million, and by 2008, to $2.5 million. In 2009, total lobbying expenses jumped to $4.5 million, or nearly double the previous year. Much of the increased lobbying expenses are due to the industry’s fight against increased taxes on soft drinks and other sweetened beverages.[21] For 2009, Coca-Cola has 38 lobbyists at 7 different firms lobbying on its behalf.[21] Consumer relations Throughout 2012, Coca-Cola contributed $1,700,500 to a $46 million dollar political campaign known as "The Coalition Against The Costly Food Labeling Proposition, sponsored by Farmers and Food Producers" [22] This organization was set up to oppose a citizen's initiative, known as Proposition 37, demanding mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients. In the aftermath of the proposition's defeat at the polls, backers called for a boycott of companies that contributed to the opposition campaign.[23] Bottlers Main article: List of assets owned by The Coca-Cola Company In general, The Coca-Cola Company and its subsidiaries only produce syrup concentrate, which is then sold to various bottlers throughout the world who hold a Coca-Cola franchise. Coca-Cola bottlers, who hold territorially exclusive contracts with the company, produce the finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise the resulting Coca-Cola product to retail stores, vending machines, restaurants and food service distributors. Houston Coca-Cola Bottling Company One notable exception to this general relationship between The Coca-Cola Company and bottlers is fountain syrups in the United States, where the company bypasses bottlers and is responsible for the manufacture and sale of fountain syrups directly to authorized fountain wholesalers and some fountain retailers. Civil rights After Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, plans for an interracial celebration in still-segregated Atlanta were not initially well [24] 1996–2002 Chevrolet Express supported by the city's business elite until Coca-Cola intervened. wagon from The Coca-Cola Company. J. Paul Austin, the chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola, and Mayor Ivan Allen summoned key Atlanta business leaders to the Commerce Club's eighteenth floor dining room, where Austin told them flatly, 'It is embarrassing for Coca-Cola to be located in a city that refuses to honor its Nobel Prize winner. We are an international business. The Coca-Cola Co. does not need Atlanta. You all need to decide whether Atlanta needs the Coca-Cola Co.' Within two hours of the end of that meeting, every ticket to the dinner was sold. —Andrew Young [25] However, Coca-Cola has also faced allegations of racial discrimination in its employment practices, and faced a class-action racial discrimination lawsuit regarding this in the early 2000s. Criticism Main article: Criticism of Coca-Cola The Coca-Cola Company has been involved in controversies and lawsuits related to human rights violations and other unethical practices. A number of lawsuits have been filed in relation to its allegedly monopolistic and discriminatory practices, some of which have been dismissed, some of which have caused The Coca-Cola Company to change its business practices, and some of which have been settled out of court.[26] There have been continuing criticisms regarding The Coca- Cola Company's relation to the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy. The company has been criticised on a number of environmental issues. An issue with pesticides in groundwater in 2003 led to problems for the company when an Indian NGO, Centre for Science and Environment, announced that it had found cancer causing chemicals in Coca-Cola as well as other soft drinks produced by the company, at levels 30 times that considered safe by the European Economic Commission. This caused an 11 percent drop in Indian Coca-Cola sales.[27][28] The Indian Health Minister said the CSE tests were inaccurate, and said that the government's tests found pesticide levels within India's standards but above EU standards.[29][30] The UK-based Central Science Laboratory, commissioned by Coke, found its products met EU standards in 2006.[31] Coke and the University of Michigan commissioned an independent study of its bottling plants by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), which reported in 2008 no unsafe chemicals in the water supply, though it criticized Coke for the impact of its water usage on local supply.[32] Critics claim that the company's overuse of local water supplies in some locations has led to severe shortages for regional farmers and the forced closure of some plants.[33] Packaging used in Coca-Cola's products have a significant environmental impact.