Coca Cola 2010 Annual Report Download - page 13

available from numerous sources and is historically subject to fluctuations in its market price. Our Company generally
has not experienced any difficulties in obtaining its requirements for nutritive sweeteners. In the United States, we
purchase HFCS to meet our and our bottlers’ requirements with the assistance of Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Sales & Services
Company LLC (‘‘CCBSS’’). CCBSS is a limited liability company that is owned by authorized Coca-Cola bottlers doing
business in the United States. Among other things, CCBSS provides procurement services to our Company for the
purchase of various goods and services in the United States, including HFCS.
The principal non-nutritive sweeteners we use in our business are aspartame, acesulfame potassium, saccharin,
cyclamate and sucralose. Generally, these raw materials are readily available from numerous sources. However, our
Company purchases aspartame, an important non-nutritive sweetener that is used alone or in combination with other
important non-nutritive sweeteners such as saccharin or acesulfame potassium in our low-calorie sparkling beverage
products, primarily from The NutraSweet Company and Ajinomoto Co., Inc., which we consider to be our primary
sources for the supply of this product. We currently purchase acesulfame potassium from Nutrinova Nutrition
Specialties & Food Ingredients GmbH, which we consider to be our primary source for the supply of this product, and
from two additional suppliers. Our Company generally has not experienced any difficulties in obtaining its requirements
for non-nutritive sweeteners.
Our Company sells a number of products sweetened with sucralose, a non-nutritive sweetener. We work closely with
Tate & Lyle, our primary sucralose supplier, to maintain continuity of supply, and we do not anticipate difficulties in
obtaining our requirements. We also purchase Truvia, a non-nutritive natural sweetener made with rebiana, which is
derived from the stevia plant, from Cargill under a multi-year agreement, and we do not anticipate any supply issues
with this ingredient.
With regard to juice and juice-drink products, citrus fruit, particularly orange juice concentrate, is our principal raw
material. The citrus industry is subject to the variability of weather conditions. In particular, freezing weather or
hurricanes in central Florida may result in shortages and higher prices for orange juice concentrate throughout the
industry. Due to our ability to also source orange juice concentrate from the Southern Hemisphere (particularly from
Brazil), we normally have an adequate supply of orange juice concentrate that meets our Company’s standards.
Our Company-owned or consolidated bottling and canning operations and our finished products business also purchase
various other raw materials including, but not limited to, PET resin, preforms and bottles; glass and aluminum bottles;
aluminum and steel cans; plastic closures; aseptic fiber packaging; labels; cartons; cases; post-mix packaging; and carbon
dioxide. We generally purchase these raw materials from multiple suppliers and historically have not experienced
material shortages.
Patents, Copyrights, Trade Secrets and Trademarks
Our Company owns numerous patents, copyrights and trade secrets, as well as substantial know-how and technology,
which we collectively refer to in this report as ‘‘technology.’’ This technology generally relates to our Company’s
products and the processes for their production; the packages used for our products; the design and operation of
various processes and equipment used in our business; and certain quality assurance software. Some of the technology is
licensed to suppliers and other parties. Our sparkling beverage and other beverage formulae are among the important
trade secrets of our Company.
We own numerous trademarks that are very important to our business. Depending upon the jurisdiction, trademarks are
valid as long as they are in use and/or their registrations are properly maintained. Pursuant to our Bottler’s
Agreements, we authorize our bottlers to use applicable Company trademarks in connection with their manufacture,
sale and distribution of Company products. In addition, we grant licenses to third parties from time to time to use
certain of our trademarks in conjunction with certain merchandise and food products.
Governmental Regulation
Our Company is required to comply, and it is our policy to comply, with applicable laws in the numerous countries
throughout the world in which we do business. In many jurisdictions, compliance with competition laws is of special
importance to us, and our operations may come under special scrutiny by competition law authorities due to our
competitive position in those jurisdictions.
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