Coca-Cola Co chief executive officer Muhtar Kent is to step down from that role next year and be succeeded by the company’s No. 2 executive, at a time when people are drinking less sugary soda, including its flagship Coke drink.
Chief operating officer James Quincey, long-expected to become the next CEO, will take over leadership of the world’s largest beverage maker on May 1, the company said on Friday. Kent will remain as chairman of the board.
Quincey, who has worked at Coca-Cola for about two decades, has led its drive to cut down the sugar in its drinks and said on Friday that he will continue to do that as CEO.
Photo: AFP
He also said he will keep pushing for more low-calorie beverages and for offering soda in smaller cans and bottles.
He said he wants to “stay relevant” with customers by continuing to “digitize” the business, selling Coca-Cola’s drinks online, through food delivery companies and any other platform customers go to in the future.
“The iPhone didn’t exist when Muhtar became CEO,” Quincey said.
The Atlanta-based company has been diversifying its drinks to try to adapt to changing tastes.
US sales volume for regular Coke is down 14 percent over the past decade, according to industry tracker Beverage Digest, while Diet Coke’s volume is down 29 percent.
So last year in the US Coca-Cola rolled out a milk drink called Fairlife that it said had more protein and less sugar than regular milk. It also makes Sprite, Fanta and Dasani water, and has invested in options like bottled teas that have bigger growth potential.
The company is in the midst of selling off its bottling businesses to independent companies who will handle the bottling of sodas and its other drinks. This means less revenue, but fewer costs, for Coca-Cola as it focuses on selling syrups and concentrates to the bottlers as well as expanding its brands.
Coca-Cola’s annual revenue has fallen in the past four years and Wall Street analysts expect revenue for the current year to fall about 5 percent from a year earlier.
In October, the company said its third-quarter profit fell 28 percent.
Quincey, 51, spent much of his career with the company in Latin America and was named president and chief operating officer last year.
Kent, 64, is to continue as chairman of the board after he steps down as CEO. He first joined the company nearly 40 years ago.
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