Poverty Footprint Study on how the Coca Cola - Oxfam America

Product portfolio
The Coca-Cola product portfolio in El Salvador and
Zambia is limited. The Coca-Cola Company’s sales
data shows that the vast majority of consumers in
both countries purchase sparking beverages rather
than the alternative offered. Data also shows that
consumers in El Salvador are showing a growing
preference for juices. 65 In Zambia, juice sales make
up only 2 percent of nonalcoholic beverage sales. 66
Globally, The Coca-Cola Company has over 500
beverage brands and more than 3,300 products.
They include regular, low- and no-calorie sparkling
beverages and still beverages such as 100 percent
fruit juices, juice drinks, waters, sports and energy
drinks, teas, coffees, and milk- and soy-based
beverages. In some developing countries the
Coca-Cola system has products which address
nutritional needs such as Nutrijuice in the Philippines
– a juice drink fortified with micronutrients to address
high levels of iron deficiency in schoolchildren.
The Company has committed to replicating this
model on a global scale, working in partnership with
governments and civil society organizations.
Marketing practices and consumer
perceptions
The Coca-Cola Company uses a range of marketing
strategies to promote its products, with a total spend
of USD5.11 million67 in El Salvador. Coca-Cola is
a leading brand in both El Salvador and Zambia,
and consumers interviewed for this study reported
associating the brand with aspiration and success. In
Zambia, it is seen as a status symbol that represents
an urban, upper-middle-class lifestyle. In both
countries, consumers reported that they made
Coca-Cola an important part of their cultural and
family celebrations.
*The analysis did not do a comparative analysis of consumer understanding of the nutritional content of other beverages
51 of 64 Coca-Cola retailers interviewed in Zambia
said that Fanta is very popular with children.
Research in Zambia also revealed that some
consumers use Coca-Cola products as unintended,
as a home remedy to rehydrate patients suffering
from diarrhea, in spite of the availability of oral
rehydration salts.
The Coca-Cola Company has a Global Responsible
Marketing Policy that prohibits marketing any of its
brands in television, radio and print programming
made specifically for children under 12 years old, or
those programs whose audience is over 35 percent
children under 12.
Nutritional labelling*
The Coca-Cola Company’s Global Responsible
Marketing Policy is to include nutritional information
on nearly all product packages worldwide by 2011.
In Zambia and El Salvador, the plastic bottles and
aluminum cans containing Coca-Cola products
already provide this information, in the same manner
as in the developed world. However, Coca-Cola
products sold in returnable glass bottles do not
feature nutritional information. The
Coca-Cola Company states that nutritional
information is unlikely to be included on returnable
glass bottles in the future given the extremely high
cost of replacing the current “fleet” of bottles with all
new bottles. Nutritional information is not available on
a significant amount of packaging in both countries.
However, in 2011 the Company has plans to either
establish a consumer telephone line or an online
database whereby this information will be made
available. Interviews with consumers in both countries
indicated that many do not understand the caloric or
nutritional content of food and beverage products,
even when presented with the information.
Exploring the links between international business and poverty reduction 71