Coca Cola 2006 Annual Report Download - page 6

distributor of Evian bottled water in the United States and Canada, and of Rockstar, an energy drink, in most of
the United States and in Canada. Multon, a Russian juice business (‘‘Multon’’) operated as a joint venture with
Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S.A. (‘‘Coca-Cola HBC’’), markets juice products under various
trademarks, including Dobriy, Rich and Nico, in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Beverage Partners Worldwide
(‘‘BPW’’), the Company’s joint venture with Nestl´ e S.A. (‘‘Nestl´ e’’) and certain of its subsidiaries, markets
ready-to-drink tea products under the trademarks Enviga, Gold Peak, Nestea, Belt´ e, Yang Guang, Nagomi,
Heaven and Earth, Frestea, Ten Ren, Modern Tea Workshop, Caf´ e Zu, Shizen and Tian Tey, and ready-to-drink
coffee products under the trademarks Nescaf´ e, Taster’s Choice and Georgia Club.
Consumer demand determines the optimal menu of Company product offerings. Consumer demand can
vary from one locale to another and can change over time within a single locale. Employing our business
strategy, and with special focus on core brands, our Company seeks to build its existing brands and, at the same
time, to broaden its historical family of brands, products and services in order to create and satisfy consumer
demand locale by locale.
Our Company introduced a variety of new brands, brand extensions and new beverage products in 2006.
Among numerous examples, in North America, the Company launched Coca-Cola Blak, a new Coca-Cola and
coffee fusion beverage designed to appeal to adult consumers, Black Cherry Vanilla Coca-Cola and Black
Cherry Vanilla Diet Coke, Vault Zero, Tab Energy, Full Throttle Fury, Simply Lemonade and Limeade. In
collaboration with Godiva Chocolatier, Inc., the Company also launched a new line of premium blended
indulgent beverages called Godiva Belgian Blends. BPW, our joint venture with Nestl´ e, launched both Enviga, a
sparkling green tea product, and Gold Peak, a premium ready-to-drink iced tea in five flavors. The Company
introduced Dasani Sparkling in Kenya and Mauritius; Five Alive and Coca-Cola Light in Kenya; Powerade
Balance, Five Alive, Fanta Free and Bonaqua flavored waters in South Africa; and Burn in Nigeria, Ghana and
Morocco. We introduced Karada Meguri Cha in Japan and Healthworks in China. Multon, our joint venture
with Coca-Cola HBC, introduced new Diva juice in Russia. In addition, we launched Coke Zero in Australia and
Korea, Haru Tea in Korea, and Schweppes Clear Lemonade in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. In Europe, the
Company launched Coca-Cola Zero/Coke Zero in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Norway, Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxembourg; Burn in Norway; and Chaudfontaine (a still and sparkling water) in Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxembourg. In Latin America, the products launched included Minute Maid Forte, Ciel
Naturae (a sparkling flavored water) and Coca-Cola Light Caffeine Free. The Company unveiled Far Coast, a
new brand of premium brewed beverages, and Chaqwa, a line of brewed beverages for quick service restaurants
and convenience stores, in Canada and Singapore.
Our Company measures the volume of products sold in two ways: (1) unit cases of finished products and
(2) gallons. As used in this report, ‘‘unit case’’ means a unit of measurement equal to 192 U.S. fluid ounces of
finished beverage (24 eight-ounce servings); and ‘‘unit case volume’’ means the number of unit cases (or unit
case equivalents) of Company beverage products directly or indirectly sold by the Company and its bottling
partners (‘‘Coca-Cola system’’) to customers. Unit case volume primarily consists of beverage products bearing
Company trademarks. Also included in unit case volume are certain products licensed to, or distributed by, our
Company, and brands owned by Coca-Cola system bottlers for which our Company provides marketing support
and from the sale of which it derives income. Such products licensed to, or distributed by, our Company or
owned by Coca-Cola system bottlers account for a minimal portion of total unit case volume. In addition, unit
case volume includes sales by joint ventures in which the Company is a partner. Although most of our
Company’s revenues are not based directly on unit case volume, we believe unit case volume is one of the
measures of the underlying strength of the Coca-Cola system because it measures trends at the consumer level.
The unit case volume numbers used in this report are based on estimates received by the Company from its
bottling partners and distributors. As used in this report, ‘‘gallon’’ means a unit of measurement for concentrates
(sometimes referred to as ‘‘beverage bases’’), syrups, finished beverages and powders (in all cases, expressed in
equivalent gallons of syrup) sold by our Company to its bottling partners or other customers. Most of our
revenues are based on gallon sales, a primarily ‘‘wholesale’’ activity. Unit case volume and gallon sales growth
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