Head winds for Coke, page-3

Hi tbo350,

Can you point out exactly what you mean by "wasting it on top executives that are not required and systems that don't work" If they were making a killing for 50 years then arguably the systems they have been using were working. In any case, CCL are trying to reinvent the wheel and have been working on this for some time. They are diversifying the product mix and looking to expand into emerging markets by growing in Indonesia.  

You are right, times are changing but as for your predictions about sugary drinks, I think this may be a little fatalistic. Glucose is a key energy source that is required by the brain and other parts of the body. I always wonder, if a product like Coke was successful for so long, i think you said for over 50 years, and we look back 50 years ago, why weren't sugary drinks like Coke causing so many issues back then. Perhaps people are consuming too much sugar now, but I also think that sugary drinks are unfairly blamed for a disproportionate amount of what is actually a culmination of poor lifestyle choices. If you smoke, drink alcohol, eat poorly and don't exercise then your poor health could be coming from any number of places and blaming things like sugary drinks is clearly wrong.  And if we take your argument that the evolution of health will see sugary drinks gone for good, does that mean we will also see alcohol, smoking and unhealthy food gone for good. Are all those businesses headed toward doom like Coke? What about Dominoes pizza? Is that destined to be gone for good in 10-15 years also?

You also said that "People seem to forget we are in the midst of a diabetes epidemic". This is wrong, at least in Australia anyway. Based on statistics published by the Australian Govt -

"4% of Australians have diabetes. That's around 999,000. This rate has risen from 1.5% in 1989. The rate of diabetes remained stable between 2007-08 (4.1%) and 2011-212 (4.2%)" - http://www.aihw.gov.au/diabetes/

Perhaps people have forgotten we are in the midst of a diabetes epidemic is because we aren't actually in the midst an diabetes epidemic.

I guess the most frustrating thing is that the same arguments keep getting raised, over and over as though they offer some astute insight to the future of Coke. You're not the oracle here. CCL management are well aware of these things and have been openly saying them for some time and you aren't really adding anything that hasn't already been said by someone in management. If you took some time to read the Annual Reports and company announcements you would have heard all of this being said for a while.