Dennis Lucey

U.S. Tries to Keep Coke Afloat

Regarding Coke, only 25% of their case volume (including non-soda brands) comes from the U.S and Canada. Their five-year case volume growth rate in this region is 1%, although it actually declined by 1% in 2007. Declining soda consumption in the U.S. more than offsets growth in their other brands.

Worldwid, their numbers are much stronger. Latin America accounts for 27% of KO's case volume and it witnessed 9% volume growth in 2007. Africa and Eurasia combine for 17% of volume and grew at a double-digit pace.

The Pacific region, which includes Australia, Japan and China, is currently only 16% of case volume. However, in 2007 the region consumed 42 servings of Coke products per capita, compared to a worldwide average of 83 servings. As this region continues to grow and have more money available for beverage consumption, that per-capita consumption will increase and approach, if not surpass, the world average. Remember that this region has over 1.5 billion people, and now think about how many Cokes will be sold at the Olympics this summer...