Running Head: Coca-Cola'S Approach To Sustainability Measurement 1
Running Head: Coca-Cola'S Approach To Sustainability Measurement 1
Running Head: Coca-Cola'S Approach To Sustainability Measurement 1
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
COCA-COLA’S APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY MEASUREMENT 2
advertises non-alcoholic beverages. The organization was established in 1892 after businessman
Asa Griggs Candler bought the innovatory Coca-Cola recipe from chemist John Pemberton. The
company headquartered at Atlanta, Georgia has been producing the brand’s syrup concentrate
since its inception in 1892. The concentrates are sold worldwide through the company’s
franchised distribution network. The Coca-Cola Company owns more than 500 beverage brands
today; however, their flagship product is still the Coca-Cola soft drink. The Coca-Cola brand has
become synonymous with soft drinks because of its global popularity, attractive branding, and
ingenious marketing strategies. In May 2020, it was ranked 96th in Forbes’ list of the world’s
largest public companies with a net profit of $10 billion and assets worth $94 billion (Murphy et
al., 2020). The company dominates the global soft drink industry alongside PepsiCo in terms of
profitability, annual sales revenue, acquired assets, and market value. PepsiCo is Coca-Cola’s
only competitor in the lucrative soft drink industry, outranking the company by securing the 87th
position in the list. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo constantly compete for brand supremacy through
Literature Review: The State of Sustainability Measurement in the Soft Drink Industry
and the best practices in the soft drink industry is limited. Sustainability measurement is a
relatively novel and uncovered area of study. Thus, as a subset of the research topic, even less
has been studied about the sustainability practices in the global soft drink supply chains (SDSC).
COCA-COLA’S APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY MEASUREMENT 3
A study by Pinna et al. categorizes the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for SDSCs
into four broad groups. General aspects encompass the industrial safety measures, security, and
client satisfaction (Pinna et al., 2018). Moreover, materials and packaging concern the use of raw
and renewable materials, recycling, and packaging quality that improves the manufacturing and
packaging of soft drinks. The water and energy indicator measures the environmental impacts as
well as calculates the manufacturer’s water and energy efficiency. Emissions indicate the amount
of greenhouse gases, smoke, and solid wastes discharged by the soft drink industries. The
research provides a blueprint for all soft drink companies to measure their sustainability.
However, the scope of this study is small as the KPIs were derived through a case study of two
leading Italian soft drink manufacturers. Furthermore, the research paper also excludes economic
metrics, which is an integral component of the triple bottom line (TBL) framework.
The Sustainability Drinks Index and Trends Report published by Footprint Intelligence
and C&C Group measures the sustainability of the drinks industry on the basis of eight social,
economic, and environmental metrics. The assessment of the eight metrics concluded that the
drink industry performed the worst in implementing social sustainability strategies but made
progress in the packaging and water efficiency department (O’ Neill & Fetzer, 2020). Despite the
comprehensiveness of the study, the report depicts the state of sustainability measurement in the
drinks industry comprising alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Therefore, the study is broad
for the accurate sustainability measurement of the soft drink industry only.
Another study by Demartini et al. (2018) reviews the best and most pragmatic
sustainability practices in the SDSCs through a case study of two soft drink manufacturing
companies. The case study observes the manufacturing process in both the companies, deduces
the best practices, and provides the outcome of the undertaken sustainability measures. The best
COCA-COLA’S APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY MEASUREMENT 4
practices involving packaging and water efficiency were emphasized due to their importance in
the process. In packaging, the best practices were found to be weight reduction, using recycled
material, and producing bio-plastic bottles. Moreover, the best practices to improve water
efficiency were concluded to be rainwater recovery, wastewater recycling, and using technology
Coca-Cola ranks high in the list of the world’s biggest producer of plastic waste. A 2019
audit led by Break Free from Plastic concluded that Coca-Cola was the top polluter with 11,732
plastic bottles collected across 4 continents and 37 countries (Nace, 2019). Thus, the company is
hand, Coca-Cola measures its socio-economic and environmental impacts through an annually
published sustainability report. The report uses United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) Index that focuses on the three components of the TBL framework: environmental,
Environmental Impacts: Coca-Cola uses KPIs such as climate change, carbon footprint,
materials, and water efficiency to measure its environmental impacts. In the 2018 sustainability
report, data collected by the company through its activities in Japan indicated that it had reduced
the crude oil consumption to 15, 365 KL in 2017, returned 241% of the water used in production
to nature, and recycled 99.1% of the waste generated during the production processes (Coca-
Cola, 2018). The performance indicators are measured annually to track the company’s changes
and progresses. For instance, the water replenished rate measured through the company’s water
stewardship program rose from 241% in 2017 to 273.7% in 2019 (Coca-Cola, 2019). In the same
COCA-COLA’S APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY MEASUREMENT 5
way, Coca-Cola annually tracks its carbon footprint, recycling percentage, and emissions to
statistically measure its impact on the environment. The programs also meet SDGs 13, 14 and 15
which are climate action, life below water, and life on land respectively.
development on the society through its tailor-made programs that aim to empower people, foster
economic growth in developing countries, and create opportunities for people in need. The most
notable social initiative launched by Coca-Cola is the 5by20 program. The program seeks to
empower women entrepreneurs in developing countries through the provision of small business
development grants (Torkornoo & Dzigbede, 2017). According to the company’s 2019
sustainability report, Coca-Cola empowered 4.6 million women worldwide, a significant rise
from 1,357 participants in 2017 (Coca-Cola, 2019). This entails that the organization uses
indicators such as training, female labor source rate, and poverty in developing countries to
measures it socio-economic impacts. The indicators cover training programs initiated by the
company to empower and educate people, action taken to improve female participation in the
workforce, and charitable contributions to improve the economic conditions of people living in
The assessment and analysis of the organization’s boundaries is difficult yet pivotal for
measuring the sustainability metrics. Defining the boundaries of indicators and reports to assess
the corporate contribution to sustainability is uncertain (Antonini & Larrinaga, 2017). The data
and indicators that measure Coca-Cola’s recycling rate transcend national boundaries such as
plastic wastes in oceans. Moreover, the company is affected by planetary boundaries such as
COCA-COLA’S APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY MEASUREMENT 6
climate change and ozone layer depletion during the measurement of environmental impacts.
measurement. The company has partnered with international organizations such as UNESDA
and UN Global compact in its approach to measure the environmental impacts. Coca-Cola’s
EKOCENTER program was launched in Africa in partnership with different public and private
2. The TBL provides the company the framework to balance its environmental, societal, and
economical sustainability efforts. The indicators in the study conducted by Pinna et al. do not
incorporate economic sustainability. The TBL framework covers the three fundamental
3. Coca-Cola’s approach encompasses the best practices in packaging and water efficiency as
determined by Demartini et al. The company effectively recycles the solid and water waste
used during production and tracks the progress in its annual sustainability report.
is not the most effective and complete way of measuring sustainability. Vanclay (2004) states
that the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) framework is a more preferable approach than TBL
while assessing an organization’s social impacts because it is more established, broad, and
professional.
2. The TBL framework is also not a suitable approach to measure the sustainability of urban
water services. Hence, a more advanced approach is required to measure water sustainability.
Marques et al. (2015) proposes a multi-criteria decision analysis system that quantifies the
sustainability level of urban water services, therefore, filling the gap left by the TBL
framework.
COCA-COLA’S APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY MEASUREMENT 8
References
Antonini, C., & Larrinaga, C. (2017). Planetary boundaries and sustainability indicators. A
doi:10.1002/sd.1667
www.cocacola.co.jp/content/dam/journey/jp/ja/private/2018/pdf/coca-cola-sustainability-
report-2018en.pdf
Coca-Cola (2019). Coca-Cola business and sustainability report 2019. Retrieved from
www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/journey/us/en/reports/coca-cola-business-and-
sustainability-report-2019.pdf
Demartini, M., Pinna, C., Aliakbarian, B., Tonelli, F., & Terzi, S. (2018). Soft drink supply chain
sustainability: A case based approach to identify and explain best practices and key
Marques, R. C., Cruz, N. F., & Pires, J. (2015). Measuring the sustainability of urban water
doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2015.07.003
Murphy, A., Tucker, H., Coyne, M., & Touryalai, H. (2020). Global 2000 - The world's largest
Nace, T. (2019). Coca-Cola named the world's most polluting brand in plastic waste audit.
the-worlds-most-polluting-brand-in-plastic-waste-audit/
COCA-COLA’S APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY MEASUREMENT 9
O'Neill, S., & Fetzer, A. (2020). Drinks Industry Sustainability Index - Trends Report 2020
content/uploads/2020/02/CC.FootprintDrinksReport.2020.pdf
Pinna, C., Demartini, M., Tonelli, F., & Terzi, S. (2018). How soft drink supply chains drive
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Vanclay, F. (2004). Impact assessment and the triple bottom line: competing pathways to
sustainability. Sustainability and Social Science Round Table Proceedings, 2003, 27-39.
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