Shares of The Coca Cola Co (NYSE:KO) were down 1.32% in late trading on September 27. Coca Cola recently announced that it would invest $17 billion in Africa by 2020 and $600 million in Nigeria alone. Coca Cola and other consumer staples have begun to expand outside of North America and Europe as sales growth has slowed.
Coca Cola released its second quarter results on July 26. Net revenues declined 16% to $9.7 billion and took a hit from its refranchising initiative in its bottling sector. Coca Cola saw its biggest net incomes in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
In an age of increasing health consciousness Coca Cola has also made the commitment to move beyond soda options. This began with the arrival of James Quincey as CEO and Coca Cola began branding itself as a “total beverage company”. Coca Cola is also looking to appeal to individual communities as it has begun to branch out its bottling to smaller companies.
The 2016 U.S. election signalled the rise of a new form of populism. Presidential candidates targeted companies that have moved services overseas and threaten local communities with outsourcing. Coca Cola is moving quickly to establish itself as a brand friendly to the “heartland”.
Coca Cola stock has increased 8.4% in 2017 and 5.5% year over year. It is securing goodwill at home while expanding aggressively into growing markets overseas.
