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Mai Ngoc Khang

Business in Society

November 25, 2022

Assignment 1: Case Study report

INTRODUCTION:

In fact, most of big companies must go over so many obstacles and issues in years to be

considered as “a success” brand in sales. Coca-Cola is one of them; when trying to be a number

one brand in carbonated beverage industry, which also must trade so many things to gain more

experience as well as lessons in maintaining quality and reputation of the company as well. In

this report, we could review and analyse three societal problems and make personal judgment

after analysis. These issues revolve around social, environmental and economic perspectives

REPORT BODY: PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES

Societal problem 1: Coca cola was the public target due to the amount of water used to

make their products. That issue later became more significant since US college students calling

for a nationwide boycott to support the Indian farmers who accused the company, which is Coca

Cola, of stealing their own water and livelihoods.

 Leading to “international PR nightmare that threatened brand’s image and global

business strategy”

Societal problem 2: China’s Communist leaders’ approach to genocide in order to make

Uyghurs’ population of western China slowly disappear in cruel ways. China environment used

violent actions such as mass detentions, forcible sterilization and mass kidnapping Uyghur
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children by taking them to “boarding school” to inhibit the growth of Uyghur’s population. The

case got even worse when “China attempts to silence even Uyghurs living abroad by locking up

and abusing the relatives back home of anyone who dares speak out”. Therefore, the biggest

challenge to Coca-cola is how to distinguish between earning profitable and having a voice in

social issues in order to prevent bad affects to Coca-cola company.

 These violent actions of China could seriously affect the reputation of Coca-Cola once

the truth is exposed, causing Coca-Cola severe economic consequences: decrease in sales,

widespread boycott, ...

Societal problem 3: “The soft drink industry as a whole, and Coke in particular, has received

harsh criticism for contributing to the global obesity pandemic”. The increasing number of sales

by years of Coca Cola also one of the factors of criticism, from 157.3 billion litters of sales in

2012 increasing 172 billion litters in 2019, rose the health concerns among the consumers. The

percentage of Coca-Cola sparkling and soft drink consumption in Asia is 63%, Europe Middle

East and Africa is 81%, Latin America and North America is 74% and 64%, respectively. This

indicates a very high percentage of people who consume sparkling and soft drink over coffee, tee

or any kind of other drinks.

 Resulting in a continuous decline in soda consumption in some key international markets.

Environmental issues: Coca Cola proclaimed that, “For every drop we use, we give one

back”. But they only totalled the amount of water used in the factory, not the amount to grow

raw materials, create packaging. According to the Water Footprint calculation, for every 0.5

litters of Coke in the bottle needs 35 litters to produce (92% for ingredients, 1% in packaging and
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7% in manufacturing, distribution, cooling and dispensing). The 2 billion of water that Coca cola

proclaimed to pay back in 2015 just covers little more than its “operational water”, that very

small percentage. The returning of every drop “is essentially referring only to the water that fits

into each bottle or can of its beverages”. The reason why the issue becomes so stressed is that in

2018, WHO reported that “half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas by

2025”, by 2030 “the United Nations predicts water stress will give way to water shortages for

nearly half the people on the planet”

 Need to come up with the right solution to address the problem.

SOLUTION FROM THE CHAIRSMAN AND STAKEHOLDERS:

Societal Problem 1: Coca Cola and its bottlers financed forestry work in Mexico by digging

similar trenches to the ones used in farming to ensure sufficient water to saplings, help

financially more an estimated 5 million trenches in national parks and other forests around

Mexico. “However, these projects have come under fire for causing damage to some of the

country’s most iconic national parks”. According to the scientists, it did not improve the growing

conditions, but it did increase erosion and forest degradation.

Societal Problem 2: Coca-Cola representative said that “the sponsors have no say in where the

Games take place.” They have no voice in the incidence and they reject all the responsibility.

“The future of a people may depend on swift, coordinated action by global actors,” the report

says. “There will be no “justice and equality” for the Uyghur women being kicked, raped and

sterilized as the ice-dancing competition unfolds; no “respect and inclusion” for Uyghur infants

being seized from their parents as skiers race down the slalom course”
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Societal Problem 3: Shaping the growth Portfolio

+ Reduce the amount of sugar added:

_ 125,000 tons of added sugar removed from the annualized basis through recipe

changes in 2020.

_ UK is the first country in the world where they sold more no-sugar coca cola

than the regular coca cola.

+ Providing smaller packages for the consumers, giving them choices and easy to control

added sugar intake. (23% growth for mini can in North America in 2020, offering various

portions control to the customers)

+ Offer drinks with nutrition and hydration benefits (no sweeteners, no calories, and no

sodium)

_Coca cola produce plant-based beverages and purified water and add vitamins

with lots of essential micronutrients.

_ Example: Minute Maid Vita Punch contains magnesium, potassium and 100%

of daily Vitamin C requirement to support humans’ immunity.

_Minute Maid Nutriforce: contains 9 different micronutrients that benefit human

health: iron, zinc, Vitamin B2, B12 folic acid, Vitamin A and Vitamin C.

Powerade Power Water: Zero sugar, packed with B vitamins and the unique ION4

Advanced System Electrolyte System.

+ Give people the information they need to make informed about the products
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_Putting a clear and easy to find nutrition information on the front of the packages

to support informed consumer’s choices.

_Providing a pack energy/calorie and put that nutrition information online about

their product to be me transparent and easy or navigate.

+ Coca Cola also has responsible marketing that they do not advertising to children under

the age of 12 anywhere around the world, applying to all the products regardless of the

nutritional profile as they respect and honor the right to choose of parents and caregivers to the

children. (For prints and online: 100% and for TV: around 94%-95%)

Environmental Issue:

+ Coca cola decided the build climate resilience to address business risks and to harness

investment opportunities and solutions, using nature-based materials.

+ Manage their carbon emissions

+ Working on access to clean water and sanitation to provide multiple quantifiable

benefits for women empowerment.

+ Addressing the growing gap in water resources availability by transforming agricultural

value chains, promoting circular water use and championing technological innovation, through

multi-stakeholders’ engagement project investment and policy reform.

CONCLUSION:

To sum up, over 130 years published, Coca-Cola still strives to maintain its position in

the sale industry, especially carbonated beverages. From the lessons and experiences, Coca-Cola

learned and tried to develop itself after these global problems. It is right to say that running a
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business is hard; it is much more than the knowledge we learn from books. Of the criticism,

Coca-Cola had to devise optimal solutions to minimize severe losses. Considering and

understanding the pros and cons of an issue is an essential factor in running a big company such

as Coca-Cola. Furthermore, Coca-Cola distinguishes chasing numbers of sales from the

conscientious actions of a company executive, improving the quality of products by transforming

agricultural value chains, promoting circular water use, and championing technological

innovation.

Citation:

MacDonald, Christine. “Coke Claims to Give Back as Much Water as It Uses. an Investigation
Shows It Isn't Even Close.” The Verge, The Verge, 31 May 2018,
https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/31/17377964/coca-cola-water-sustainability-recycling-
controversy-investigation.

Coca-Cola and the Fight against the Global ... - Wiley Online Library.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tie.21888.

Hiatt, Fred. “Opinion | China Is Perfecting a 21st-Century Method of Destroying an Entire

“Refresh the World. Make a Difference.” The Coca-Cola Company, https://www.coca-

Greenhalgh, Susan. “Making China Safe for Coke: How Coca-Cola Shaped Obesity Science and
Policy in China.” The BMJ, British Medical Journal Publishing Group, 9 Jan. 2019,
https://www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.k5050.abstract.
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