In Ad Age, I was reading this post, "How Coke Plans To Hit Bold Growth Targets." This line caught my eye:
At the Association of National Advertisers' annual confab earlier this month, Coca-Cola Co. Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer Joe Tripodi talked of doubling its sales -- now at $31 billion -- within 10 years.
Doing simple math, that means in the year 2020, Coca-Cola is aiming to hit $62 billion in sales. 60% of growth is expected to come more from international markets like China and India. Mr. Tripodi also said he wants Coca-Cola to achieve 3 billion servings a day by 2020.
Ironically, which I didn't know until now is that Coca-Cola's motto is "Live Positively." My inner voice asks, "How can high fructose corn syrup flavored water help us live positively?"
For a moment, let's take a look at some soda and health stats:
- Coca-Cola and PepsiCo combined control a whopping 73.9% of soft drink sales in the U.S. which includes teas, lemonades, sports drinks and waters....basically anything that is sugared water. Here's an interesting soft drink infographic created by Philip H. Howard an Assitant Professor of Michigan State University depicting the Soft Drink Industry Structure.
- According to a diabetes study by the Population Health Metrics, diabetes in U.S. adults could rise from 14% in 2010 to 33% in 2050...which means 1 in 3 adults. It''s no secret that soft drinks are a contributor to diabetes. In this Harvard School of Public Health study on a correlation between sugary drinks and diabetes, "drinking one or two sugar-sweetened beverages a day increases diabetes risk by 26%."
- According to the August 2010 issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource on soda and obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, "Drinking too much soda could have health consequences ranging from weight gain to osteoporosis to kidney problems." Diet sodas are no better either.
Now these are just a few stats on the relationship between soda and health. Being a business person and having been a shareholder in companies before myself, I'm all for businesses growing because that means more jobs and a stimulating economy. Coca-Cola is a huge conglomeration and does own some of the most well known health drink brands like Odwalla and SmartWater (although VitaminWater was recently slapped with a lawsuit for being mis-marketed as "healthy.")
I get that Coca-Cola has to grow as a company.
However, if Coca-Cola is to hit their $62 billion in sales in 2020, that means more of us are going to have to drink more soda more often...and not just in the U.S. but all over the globe!
So, if we are drinking more sodas more often, that means we are not going to get any better health-wise, just a few health studies lead to that fact. Coca-Cola becomes profitable by contributing to our unwellness.
But being open-minded and an idealist I ask, will Coca-Cola change their formulas and use less High Fructose Corn Syrup and use more natural sweeteners? Will Coca-Cola be open to using natural low calorie sweeteners like Stevia in their diet sodas? Will Coca-Cola create and promote more organic or all-natural drinks?
My Magic 8-Ball says, "It is doubtful." Why? Because right now, Coca-Cola has a winning formula sales wise, so why change it...unless the government forces them to or we as consumers just stop buying the stuff. However, if Coca-Cola decides to create more natural drinks, than hey, I'll be one of the first to applaud the effort.
On a personal level, I wonder what it will take for people to drink less soda and for companies like Coca-Cola to create more genuinely healthful drinks because I do not consider drinks loaded with HFCS, artificial sweeteners and/or dyes healthy drinks. Drinking a flourescent purple sports drink with high fructose corn syrup in it just because it has electrolytes in it seems counter-productive to me.
