Coca-Cola cans (Photo : Reuters)
Warren Buffet, investor and philanthropist, appeared at the Coca-Cola Company's annual shareowners meeting. The company's biggest shareholder said in a conversation with the soda king's CEO and Chairman that Coke is "hard to beat."
Besides owning $16 billion in shares of Coca-Cola stocks, Buffet is also a devoted fan of the beverage. In February he said that he is "a quarter" Coca-Cola.
During his 20-minute chat with Muhtar Kent, CEO and Chairman of Coca-Cola, Buffet praised the company's business model and distribution footprint. He said that its selling 1.9 billion 8-ounce servings daily proved that it was doing "something right."
Buffet said that Coke "brings smiles" to people's faces. Because it did that at a practical price, it was a "great business," according to Value Walk.
Buffet observed that macroeconomic trends were benefiting Coca-Cola. More income was resulting in people consuming more Coke products more frequently.
Buffet advised that Coca-Cola must adapt to consumers' changing tastes. It must also "win over" the 7 billion possible customers worldwide.
He praised the company because it "listens" to its customers. Buffet gave the example of Coca-Cola's 1985 launch of Cherry Coke, his favorite beverage.
One of the highlights of Coca-Cola's annual meeting was Buffet playing "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" in a video, according to Ad Week. His rendition of the song was on a custom red ukulele.
The ukulele was made of Romanian spruce, and contained a sound hole that was shaped like a classic Coke bottle. Coca-Cola presented the instrument to Buffet last month at his Berkshire Hathaway office.
Interestingly, the iconic Coke bottle featured on the ukulele was launched 100 years ago. Coca-Cola selected the "contour bottle" design in a nationwide competition.
The Coca-Cola Company was incorporated in 1892. It sells over 3,6000 beverages in over 200 countries, and its 2014 global retail sales reached over $80 billion.
