April 2021
Case
HBS Case Collection

Coca-Cola: Preparing for the Next 100 Years

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and James Weber

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:28

Abstract

In early 2020, James Quincey, the 14th chair of the 133-year old The Coca-Cola Company, was in the midst of a years-long transformation of Coca-Cola from being the leading carbonated soft drink (CSD) beverage company into a total beverage company. The company’s flagship product, Coca-Cola, had been the world’s best-selling beverage for 100 years, yet some consumers were turning away from CSDs due to health concerns over sugar consumption and a proliferation of other beverage options. The company had both acquired and developed many new beverage brands. It was in the process of changing its culture to be faster moving and more willing to take risks, and a culture where the new brands meant as much to the company as did its flagship product, which was still the company's largest selling beverage. Coca-Cola was also working to improve its environmental sustainability and social consciousness activities, and building a company where people were proud to work. The case also provides a historical look at the company's development, its relations with bottlers, competition with rival PepsiCo, and ends with emerging issues in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.