The emergence of weight loss medications and non-alcoholic alternatives has led American consumers to reduce their soda purchases.
Despite this trend, Coca-Cola reported strong earnings for the second quarter, largely fueled by a robust global demand for its beverage offerings, leading the company to increase its full-year forecast.
Coca-Cola’s CEO, James Quincey, expressed optimism about the company’s performance, stating that the second-quarter results showed solid revenue growth amidst a shifting market landscape.
However, in North America, volume sales experienced a slight decline of 1%. Quincey attributed this reduction primarily to decreased sales in away-from-home channels, which encompass water, sports drinks, coffee, tea, and sodas.
The decline was somewhat mitigated by the success of Coca-Cola’s Fairlife milk and its flagship soda, Coke, which ranked first and second in retail sales growth for the quarter.
To counteract the sales drop, Coca-Cola is collaborating with food chains to include their sodas in combo meals. Reports indicated that the company is working with McDonald’s to enhance the fast-food giant’s $5 meal deal, which features a soft drink.
Overall, Coca-Cola outperformed Wall Street expectations, recording $12.4 billion in revenue, translating to approximately $0.84 per share. Analysts had predicted revenues of $11.76 billion, or about $0.81 per share.
The company has updated its forecast for organic revenue growth to between 9% and 10%, a revision from the earlier estimate of 8% to 9%.
Similarly, Pepsi is facing challenges in engaging U.S. consumers, who are increasingly leaning towards health-conscious products. A Gallup poll noted that young adults in the U.S. are consuming significantly less alcohol than before. Additionally, Pepsi cited a series of product recalls as a factor contributing to its lackluster second-quarter performance.