Bad weather complicates Coca-Cola's soda struggles

Coca-Cola is struggling to sell more soda in the US, and it can't seem to catch a break.
The world's largest beverage maker yesterday blamed a confluence of factors including unusually bad weather for its disappointing second-quarter results. It cited cold, wet conditions at home and flooding in parts of Europe for weak volume growth globally. Profit declined 4 per cent.
The temporary setbacks clouded the underlying challenge the company faces in North America and other developed markets, where soda consumption has been declining for years amid criticism that sugary drinks fuel obesity rates.
In the latest quarter, for example, Coca-Cola said soda volume in North America fell 4 per cent. But the figure has declined in 20 of the 26 quarters since the start of 2007, including a 2 percent slide a year ago.

It was flat in four quarters and rose by just 1 per cent in the other two quarters.
Still, executives expressed confidence they'd be able to return to growth with greater investments in marketing, new packaging and other tactics.

"I hate to use the weather, but a lot of it was the weather," Chief Financial Officer Gary Fayard said in an interview on CNBC, apparently acknowledging the frequency with which companies cite the weather when they deliver disappointing results.
When asked if people drink less soda when it's cold and wet outside, Fayard said that was indeed the case.
"We are an industry that's susceptible to weather," he said.

Coke's shares fell 78 cents, or 1.9 per cent, to close at USD 40.23 yesterday. Over the past year, the company's stock is up more than 5 per cent.
Looking ahead to the second half of the year, executives expressed confidence that the weather would even out and that business would improve, including in key markets such as India, China and North America.