The Coca-Cola Company

Would you like a Coke with that?

The thirst quencher from Atlanta has a lot more to show than just Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite. The company now has just under 3,900 different products. Just to put that in perspective: if you tried a different one every day, you'd be busy for over 10 years!

Of course, Coca-Cola didn't build this huge portfolio overnight. The company was founded at the end of the 19th century and, over the years, has constantly kept researching and, with clever marketing, has always captured the zeitgeist. But especially in our health-conscious generation, the stock is no longer a sure-fire success ...

The history and business model of The Coca-Cola Company

If you ask about the 5 best-known beverage brands in the world, 4 of them come from The Coca-Cola Company. But since more and more people are watching their diet and therefore avoiding fizzy soda, management had to come up with new products and new sales channels. And they've done that very successfully. Apart from Cuba and North Korea, the products are now available worldwide.

The company has now built up 21 so-called power brands. Power brands are beverage brands that generate over a billion US dollars in revenue per year. These include Coca-Cola Original, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Fanta, Sprite and Powerade, among others. In Germany, for example, Appolinaris, Fuze Tea and Mezzo Mix are also very successful. In Japan, the company released the first alcoholic beverage in its history. And there has also been heavy investment in coffee and smoothies in recent years.

In a nutshell

The company has massively expanded its core business so that it has the right drink in stock for every taste.

What's next for Coca-Cola? How will the health trend weigh on the stock? Can the company keep paying a stable dividend?

These are all questions we rightly have to ask ourselves. But I'm optimistic. Management has recognized the trend and announced that they want to reduce the sugar content of their drinks by 10 percent over the next 2 years. With that, they're once again hitting the zeitgeist and will be able to boost revenue again. More will then stick on the bottom line, too. According to current forecasts, annual profit in 2019 is expected to be just under 10 billion US dollars.

Let's take a look at the dividend

Here Coca-Cola is clearly a Dividend King that has paid continuously since 1920 and has now raised its dividend for the 56th year in a row. Over the last 10 years, the dividend has been increased by 8 percent annually.

Conclusion

The Coca-Cola Company will have to face new trends in the future as well. But I'm confident that won't be a problem for the company. The portfolio is set up to be future-proof and the beverage lineup is constantly being expanded. The best conditions for a long-term investment.
So if you buy into Coca-Cola, don't expect the stock to be worth double tomorrow. But if you want to invest your money for the long term, you're in the best hands here and will be rewarded accordingly. On the one hand with steadily rising share prices, and on the other with the juicy dividend.

By the way

The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, now holds over 9% of Coca-Cola's shares. That alone should be convincing ...