Coca-Cola

Trade name of a sweetened, carbonated drink, originally made with coca leaves and flavoured with cola nuts, and containing caramel and caffeine. Invented in 1886, Coca-Cola was sold in every state of the USA by 1895 and in nearly 200 countries by 2000. In 2006 it was the 89th largest corporation in the world (according to Fortune magazine). The company owns four of the world's top five soft-drink brands (Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta, and Sprite), and owns or licenses more than 400 brands. In addition, it has ownership interests in bottling and canning operations. In 2006 Coca-Cola's net operating revenues were $24.1 billion and operating income was $6.3 billion.

With the increased US business presence in nations in the developing world, US imperialism became known as Coca-Colonialism. In 1999, the Coca-Cola company suffered a bad year, involving a contaminated batch of carbon dioxide in Belgium and a recall of products stored in a French cannery. The French government blocked the company's effort to take over the Orangina company, which produces a popular orange soda. At the end of 1999, the chairman and chief executive M Douglas Ivester resigned, and was replaced by Douglas Daft.

In January 2000 the company announced that it would be making 6,000 redundancies, cutting away 21% of its employees, as part of a restructuring programme. This was the largest reduction in the company's history. The cuts involved 2,500 jobs at the headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, 2,700 overseas, and 800 elsewhere in the USA, making an estimated saving of $300 million.

In 2002 the company introduced a new product, vanilla coke. However, in 2005 it announced that it was phasing out the product in the USA and UK after declining sales.

In November 2000 Coca-Cola agreed to pay US$192.5 million to settle a discrimination suit filed by black employees concerning their pay, promotions, and evaluations. Although it denied racial discrimination, the company agreed to pay US$113 million in cash to the workers, US$43.5 million to adjust current salaries, and US$36 million to monitor its employment practices.