Coca Cola Company

Coca Cola Co.

Soft drink companies around the world compete for the public’s interest in their beverages. These companies spend million s of dollars a year promoting, advertising and creating new and better products. In my opinion the company that stands out from all the soft drink competitors is The Coca-Cola Company.

Company Description:

Doctor John Premberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia invented Coca Cola in May 1886. Pemberton invented the Cola product in a three legged brass kettle in his own backyard. The original name for the drink was “Pemberton’s French Wine Coca” used as a nerve tonic, stimulant and headache remedy. (Coca Cola History) At the time his product was sold by most, if not all of the city’s local drugstores for five cent’s at the fountain. Later that year a new Coca-Cola drink debuted still possessing the valuable tonic and nerve stimulate properties of the coca plant and cola nuts, yet it was sweetened with sugar instead of wine. The drink was advertised as a “delicious, exhilarating, refreshing and invigorating” soda-fountain beverage but also the ideal “temperance drink” Two years later Pemberton died, just five months after filing for incorporation for the first Coca-Cola Co. (Coca Cola History) By the late 1890s, Coca-Cola was one of America's most popular fountain drinks. With another Atlanta pharmacist, Asa Griggs Candler, at the helm, the Coca-Cola Company increased syrup sales by over 4000% between 1890 and 1900. As for today, Coca-Cola Enterprises is the world's largest marketer, producer, and distributor of products of The Coca-Cola Company. The brands of The Coca Cola Company represent many of the most popular beverage brands in the world today. Coca Cola Inc The Company distributed 2 billion physical cases about 42 billion cans and bottles in 2004. (Coca Cola History) These sales represented around 21 percent of The Coca-Cola Company’s volume worldwide for that year. The company operates in nearly 46 states in the United States, all 10 provinces in Canada, and portions of Europe including Belgium, continental France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Monaco, and the Netherlands. Coca-Cola Enterprises' franchise territories encompass a population of 398 million people. This represents 80 percent of the population in North America and all of the population in Belgium, continental France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Monaco, and the Netherlands. Coca-Cola Enterprises employs approximately 74,000 people who operate 431 facilities, 54,000 vehicles, and 2.4 million vending machines, beverage dispensers, and coolers. (Coca Cola History)

Industry Description:

The soft drink industry began in the mid-1880s with the creation of syrup that was mixed with carbonated water and served at drug store lunch counters. During the early years, soft drinks were sold only in stores that could provide fountain service. Increasing distribution was tied to building additional syrup manufacturing plants. (Bottled and Canned Soft Drinks) Soft drinks have become a big part of every Americans life today. The Coca-Cola Company has become a virtual icon of American culture. “Around 500 bottling companies, and soft drink manufacturers operate in the United States today.