Coca Cola 2013 Annual Report Download - page 36

in addressing water and sanitation needs. As demand for water continues to increase around the world, we expect commitment
and continued action on our part will be crucial to the successful long-term stewardship of this critical natural resource.
Evolving Consumer Preferences
Consumers want more choices. We are impacted by shifting consumer demographics and needs, on-the-go lifestyles, aging
populations in developed markets and consumers who are empowered with more information than ever. We are committed to
generating new avenues for growth through our core brands and throughout our portfolio with a focus on low- and no-calorie
products, innovative packaging, and ingredient and packaging material education efforts. We are also committed to continuing to
expand the variety of choices we provide to consumers to meet their needs, desires and lifestyles.
Increased Competition and Capabilities in the Marketplace
Our Company is facing strong competition from some well-established global companies and many local participants. We must
continue to strengthen our capabilities in marketing and innovation in order to maintain our brand loyalty and market share while
we strategically expand into other profitable segments of the nonalcoholic beverage segment of the commercial beverage industry.
Product Safety and Quality
As the world’s largest beverage company, we strive to meet the highest of standards in both product safety and product quality.
We are aware that some consumers have concerns and negative viewpoints regarding certain ingredients used in our products. Our
system works every day to share safe and refreshing beverages with the world. We have rigorous product and ingredient safety and
quality standards designed to ensure ingredient safety and quality in each of our products and we drive innovation that provides
new beverage options to meet consumers’ evolving needs and preferences. Across the Coca-Cola system, we take great care in an
effort to ensure that every one of our beverages meets the highest standards for safety and quality.
We work to ensure consistent safety and quality through strong governance and compliance with applicable regulations and
standards. We stay current with new regulations, industry best practices and marketplace conditions, and engage with standard-
setting and industry organizations. Additionally, we manufacture and distribute our products according to strict policies,
requirements and specifications set forth in an integrated quality management program that continually measures all operations
within the Coca-Cola system against the same stringent standards. Our quality management system also identifies and mitigates
risks and drives improvement. In our quality laboratories, we stringently measure the quality attributes of ingredients as well as
samples of finished products collected from the marketplace.
We perform due diligence to ensure that product and ingredient safety and quality standards are maintained in the more than
200 countries where our products are sold. We consistently reassess the relevance of our requirements and standards and
continually work to improve and refine them across our entire supply chain.
Food Security
Increased demand for commodities and decreased agricultural productivity in certain regions of the world as a result of changing
weather patterns may limit the availability or increase the cost of key agricultural commodities, such as sugarcane, corn, beets,
citrus, coffee and tea, which are important sources of ingredients for our products and could impact the food security of
communities around the world. We are dedicated to implementing our sustainable sourcing commitment, which is founded on
principles that protect the environment, uphold workplace rights and help build more sustainable communities. To support this
commitment, our programs focus on economic opportunity, with an emphasis on female farmers, and environmental sustainability
designed to help address these agricultural challenges. Through joint efforts with farmers, communities, bottlers, suppliers and key
partners, as well as our increased and continued investment in sustainable agriculture, we can together help make a positive
strategic impact on food security.
All of these challenges and risks — obesity, poor diets and inactive lifestyles; water quality and quantity; evolving consumer
preferences; increased competition and capabilities in the marketplace; product safety and quality; and food security — have the
potential to have a material adverse effect on the nonalcoholic beverage segment of the commercial beverage industry and on our
Company; however, we believe our Company is well positioned to appropriately address these challenges and risks.
See also ‘‘Item 1A. Risk Factors’’ in Part I of this report for additional information about risks and uncertainties facing our
Company.
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