Britannica Money (2024)

The Coca-Cola Company is an American corporation founded in 1892 and today engaged primarily in the manufacture and sale of syrup and concentrate for Coca-Cola, a sweetened carbonated beverage that is a cultural institution in the United States and a global symbol of American tastes.

The company also produces and sells other soft drinks and citrus beverages. With more than 500 brands available in more than 200 countries, Coca-Cola is the largest beverage manufacturer and distributor in the world, one of the largest corporations in the United States, and one of the most successful brands in marketing history. Its headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia.

Current business structure

Coca-Cola is a publicly traded company (ticker symbol KO) with a top-down corporate structure that includes a chair and board, as well as a chief operating officer. The company has four geographic operating segments and uses a licensing structure with local bottlers and distributors.

As a company, Coca-Cola has a long history of steady growth and stability, having raised its dividend each year for more than 60 years. That makes it one of the so-called dividend kings (i.e., companies that have raised their annual dividend for 50 years or more).

Founding and early history

The drink Coca-Cola was originated in 1886 by an Atlanta pharmacist, John S. Pemberton (1831–88), at his Pemberton Chemical Company. His bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, chose the name for the drink and penned it in the flowing script that became the Coca-Cola trademark.

Pemberton originally touted his drink as a tonic for most common ailments, basing it on cocaine from the coca leaf and caffeine-rich extracts of the kola nut. The cocaine was removed from Coca-Cola’s formula in about 1903.

Pemberton sold his syrup to local soda fountains, and, with advertising, the drink became phenomenally successful. By 1891 another Atlanta pharmacist, Asa Griggs Candler (1851–1929), had secured complete ownership of the business (for a total cash outlay of $2,300 and the exchange of some proprietary rights), and he incorporated the Coca-Cola Company the following year. The trademark “Coca-Cola” was registered with the U.S. Patent Office in 1893.

• Coca-Cola sales rose from about 9,000 gallons of syrup in 1890 to 370,877 gallons in 1900.
• Between 1890 and 1900, syrup-making plants were established in Dallas, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. The product came to be sold in every U.S. state and territory as well as in Canada.
• In 1899 the Coca-Cola Company signed its first agreement with an independent bottling company, which was allowed to buy the syrup and produce, bottle, and distribute the Coca-Cola drink.
• Capitalized at $100,000 in 1892 upon incorporation, the Coca-Cola Company was sold in 1919 for $25 million to a group of investors led by Atlanta businessman Ernest Woodruff.
• Robert Winship Woodruff, Ernest’s son, guided the company as president and chair for more than three decades (1923–55).

Post–World War II

The post–World War II years saw diversification in the packaging of Coca-Cola and the development or acquisition of new products.

• co*ke. The trademark “co*ke,” first used in advertising in 1941, was registered in 1945.
• Fanta. In 1946 the company purchased rights to Fanta, a soft drink previously developed in Germany.
• McDonald’s. Coca-Cola partnered with McDonald’s to sell branded soft drinks in 1955, an exclusive partnership that lasted until 2007, when some locations began selling Pepsi products. There is still a strong partnership between Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, with Coca-Cola maintaining a separate McDonald’s division.
• co*ke bottle. The contoured Coca-Cola bottle, first introduced in 1916, was registered in 1960.
• Orange juice. With its purchase of Minute Maid Corporation in 1960, the company entered the citrus juice market.
• Sprite. Lemon-lime drink Sprite was introduced in 1961.
• Tab. Coca-Cola’s first diet cola, sugar-free Tab, was launched in 1963.
• Fresca. The brand Fresca was added to Coca-Cola’s stable in 1966.
• China. In 1978 Coca-Cola became the only company allowed to sell cold packaged beverages in the People’s Republic of China.
• Diet co*ke. In 1982 the company introduced its low-calorie, sugar-free soft drink Diet co*ke (originally named Diet Coca-Cola).
• New co*ke/old co*ke. In an effort to address its decline in market share, the company adopted a new flavor of Coca-Cola in April 1985, using a formula it developed through taste tests. New co*ke was not well received, however. Owing to the public outcry, Coca-Cola revived its original flavor in July, which was then marketed as Coca-Cola Classic.
• Media. From 1982 to 1989, the company held a controlling interest in Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., a motion picture and entertainment company.
• Global reach. The company began selling products in East Germany in 1990 and in India in 1993.
• Recycling. In 1992, the company introduced its first bottle made partially from recycled plastic—a major innovation in the industry at the time.

Coca-Cola created many new beverages during the 1990s, including the Asia-marketed Qoo children’s fruit drink, Powerade sports drink, and Dasani bottled water. Also during this period, the company acquired Barq’s root beer in the United States; Inca Kola in Peru; Maaza, Thums Up, and Limca in India; and Cadbury Schweppes beverages, which were sold in more than 120 countries across the globe.

Coca-Cola in the new century

Coca-Cola has continued to reign as the largest beverage company in the world through various leadership changes in the 2000s.

• Douglas N. Daft: 2000–04, presided over continued expansion into emerging markets. In 2005 the company introduced Coca-Cola Zero, a zero-calorie soft drink with the taste of regular Coca-Cola.
• E. Neville Isdell: 2004–08, presided over the acquisition of Energy Brands, known as Glacéau, marking Coca-Cola’s entrance into the enhanced water market in 2007. Also in 2007, Coca-Cola announced it would join the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR), a group of companies working together to develop and implement corporate responses to human rights issues that affect the business world.
• Muhtar Kent: 2008–17, presided over the purchases of Honest Tea in 2011 and ZICO Pure Premium Coconut Water in 2013.
• James Quincey: 2017–present, presided over the entrance of Coca-Cola into the coffee market by completing the acquisition of Costa Limited in early 2019. The company also relaunched its co*ke Zero product in 2017, calling it co*ke Zero Sugar and touting its updated taste.

Coca-Cola and controversies

In the early 2000s, Coca-Cola faced allegations of illegal soil and water pollution, as well as allegations of severe human rights violations. The company has also faced criticism over its efforts to obscure the health impacts of its drinks.

• In 2001 the United Steelworkers of America and the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola and Bebidas y Alimentos and Panamerican Beverages, Inc. (also known as Panamco LLC; the primary bottlers of Coca-Cola’s beverages in Latin America), claiming that the defendants had openly engaged so-called “death squads” to intimidate, torture, kidnap, and even murder union officials in Latin America. The controversy gained worldwide attention and led several American universities to ban the sale of Coca-Cola products on their campuses. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed.
• In April 2002, protests at Coca-Cola’s Plachimada plant in India highlighted water accessibility issues caused by the company. Local residents complained that the plant was drying out wells and contaminating the water supply. The plant operated on and off during a years-long legal battle, but was eventually closed permanently.
• Students spearheaded efforts from 2005 through 2007 to have Coca-Cola products removed from campuses due to alleged human rights and labor violations.
• In 2015 Coca-Cola came under fire for its effort to direct health issues away from its sugary drinks and put more blame for obesity on a lack of exercise. The company was involved in efforts to provide financial support to scientists and researchers who would then downplay the impact of sugary drinks like Coca-Cola on diabetes and other health-related problems.

Coca-Cola and sustainability

• Coca-Cola announced a water security strategy in 2023 with the goal of achieving circular water use in 175 facilities and returning two trillion liters of water back to nature and global communities by 2030.
• Additionally, Coca-Cola announced a goal to make 100% of its packaging recyclable by 2025 and use at least 50% recycled materials in its packaging by 2023.

A look ahead

Coca-Cola continues to cement its place as a total beverage company. Beginning in 2018, the company launched its foray into alcoholic beverages with Lemon-Dou in Japan. Today, Coca-Cola sells hard seltzers like Topo Chico and offers premixed co*cktails, such as its Jack and co*ke brand through its partnership with Jack Daniels.

As one of the premier American brands and cultural touchstones, it’s unlikely that Coca-Cola will be dethroned anytime soon, especially as the company continues to push its brands worldwide and focus on publicizing its efforts to become a sustainable company.