An effective volume and value growth strategy is critical to the success of our system, ... While this strategy is working in some regions, in other key regions we still have much work to do. The benefit of our actions may not be immediate. |
For all of us at Coca-Cola, the Fulbright Prize celebrates the qualities of character that can bring together peoples, cultures and nations for a common good. We congratulate President Clinton on being honored with this distinction and recognition of his tireless efforts in helping others around the world. |
Global macro-economic trends for many of these countries remain favorable. |
I am satisfied with our progress to date and believe that our 18-to-24-month turnaround is on track, |
I am working on stabilizing the business and regenerating growth. We're in a great industry with high margin and we have the knowledge and the expertise. For now we're focused on getting our own house in order and improving shareholder value, not the size of the business. |
I believe that we are at the end of the beginning [of the changes we've implemented]. But rebuilding brand equity takes time. There are no quick fixes, |
I'm not happy about it at all. I don't believe we performed as well as we could. With just a two percent increase in worldwide unit volume growth last year, it's hard to deny that, |
It's not an indicator one way or another. |
It's not an indicator one way or another. That's a question that obviously keeps arising. When the time comes, there will be internal candidates, there will be external candidates. It will be based on how they've performed the jobs they had. |
Not everyone in this room is going to agree with everyone's views. |
Our primary focus is to make progress in our flagship North America market where we've lost a small percentage of volume market share. |
Our results in the quarter reflect solid performance in many markets, but we are experiencing challenging conditions in several key countries, including Germany, Mexico and the Philippines, |
strong performance in Latin America, central and eastern Europe and northern Asia, as well as stabilization from an increasingly focused North America. |
The Coca-Cola System is fully activated to meet the demands, |
There is still growth in carbonated soft drinks. |