Coca-Cola 10-K 2021-12-31

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

OR

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number 001-02217

COCA COLA CO

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (404) 676-2121

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the Registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the common equity held by non-affiliates of the Registrant (assuming for these purposes, but without conceding, that all executive officers and Directors are “affiliates” of the Registrant) as of July 2, 2021, the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $232,023,179,143 (based on the closing sale price of the Registrant’s Common Stock on that date as reported on the New York Stock Exchange).

The number of shares outstanding of the Registrant’s Common Stock as of February 18, 2022 was 4,335,473,308.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Company’s Proxy Statement for the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareowners are incorporated by reference in Part III.

THE COCA-COLA COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

Table of Contents

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report contains information that may constitute “forward-looking statements.” Generally, the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “project,” “will” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical in nature. However, the absence of these words or similar expressions does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. All statements that address operating performance, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in the future — including statements relating to volume growth, share of sales and earnings per share growth, and statements expressing general views about future operating results — are forward-looking statements. Management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made. However, caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements because such statements speak only as of the date when made. Our Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In addition, forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause our Company’s actual results to differ materially from historical experience and our present expectations or projections. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the possibility that the assumptions used to calculate our estimated aggregate incremental tax and interest liability related to the potential unfavorable outcome of the ongoing tax dispute with the United States Internal Revenue Service could significantly change; those described in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this report; and those described from time to time in our future reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Part I

In this report, the terms “The Coca-Cola Company,” “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” mean The Coca-Cola Company and all entities included in our consolidated financial statements.

General

The Coca-Cola Company is a total beverage company, and beverage products bearing our trademarks, sold in the United States since 1886, are now sold in more than 200 countries and territories. We own or license and market numerous beverage brands, which we group into the following categories: Trademark Coca-Cola; sparkling flavors; hydration, sports, coffee and tea; nutrition, juice, dairy and plant-based beverages; and emerging beverages. We own and market five of the world’s top six nonalcoholic sparkling soft drink brands: Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.

We make our branded beverage products available to consumers throughout the world through our network of independent bottling partners, distributors, wholesalers and retailers as well as our consolidated bottling and distribution operations. Beverages bearing trademarks owned by or licensed to the Company account for 2.1 billion of the approximately 63 billion servings of all beverages consumed worldwide every day.

We believe our success depends on our ability to connect with consumers by providing them with a wide variety of beverage options to meet their desires, needs and lifestyles. Our success further depends on the ability of our people to execute effectively, every day.

We are guided by our purpose, which is to refresh the world and make a difference, and rooted in our strategy to drive net operating revenue growth and generate long-term value. Our vision for growth has three connected pillars:

• Loved Brands. We craft meaningful brands and a choice of drinks that people love and that refresh them in body and spirit.

• Done Sustainably. We use our leadership to be part of the solution to achieve positive change in the world and to build a more sustainable future for our planet.

• For A Better Shared Future. We invest to improve people’s lives, from our employees to all those who touch our business system, to our investors, to the broad communities we call home.

Effective January 1, 2021, we transformed our organizational structure in an effort to better enable us to capture growth in the fast-changing marketplace by building a networked global organization designed to combine the power of scale with the deep knowledge required to win locally. We created new operating units, which are focused on regional and local execution. The operating units, which sit under four geographic operating segments, as discussed below, are highly interconnected, with more consistency in their structure and a focus on eliminating duplication of resources and scaling new products more quickly. The operating units work closely with five global marketing category leadership teams to rapidly scale ideas while staying close to the consumer. The global marketing category leadership teams primarily focus on innovation as well as marketing efficiency and effectiveness. Our organizational structure also includes a center and a platform services organization, as discussed below.

The Coca-Cola Company was incorporated in September 1919 under the laws of the State of Delaware and succeeded to the business of a Georgia corporation with the same name that had been organized in 1892.

Operating Segments

The Company’s operating structure is the basis for our internal financial reporting. Our operating structure includes the following operating segments:

• Europe, Middle East and Africa

• Latin America

• North America

• Asia Pacific

• Global Ventures

• Bottling Investments

Our operating structure also includes Corporate, which consists of two components: (1) a center focusing on strategic initiatives, policy, governance and scaling global initiatives; and (2) a platform services organization supporting the operating units, global marketing category leadership teams and the center by providing efficient and scaled global services and capabilities including, but not limited to, transactional work, data management, consumer analytics, digital commerce and social/digital hubs.

For additional information about our operating segments and Corporate, refer to Note 19 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Part II, “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this report.

Except to the extent that differences among operating segments are material to an understanding of our business taken as a whole, the description of our business in this report is presented on a consolidated basis.

Products and Brands

As used in this report:

• “concentrates” means flavorings and other ingredients which, when combined with water and, depending on the product, sweeteners (nutritive or non-nutritive) are used to prepare syrups or finished beverages, and includes powders/minerals for purified water products;

• “syrups” means intermediate products in the beverage manufacturing process produced by combining concentrates with water and, depending on the product, sweeteners (nutritive or non-nutritive);

• “fountain syrups” means syrups that are sold to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores, which use dispensing equipment to mix the syrups with sparkling or still water at the time of purchase to produce finished beverages that are served in cups or glasses for immediate consumption;

• “Company Trademark Beverages” means beverages bearing our trademarks and certain other beverages bearing trademarks licensed to us by third parties for which we provide marketing support and from the sale of which we derive an economic benefit; and

• “Trademark Coca-Cola Beverages” or “Trademark Coca-Cola” means beverages bearing the trademark Coca-Cola or any trademark that includes Coca-Cola or Coke (that is, Coca-Cola, Diet Coke/Coca-Cola Light and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and all their variations and any line extensions, including caffeine free Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, etc.). Likewise, when we use the capitalized word “Trademark” together with the name of one of our other beverage products (such as “Trademark Fanta,” “Trademark Sprite” or “Trademark Simply”), we mean beverages bearing the indicated trademark (that is, Fanta, Sprite or Simply, respectively) and all its variations and line extensions (such that “Trademark Fanta” includes Fanta Orange, Fanta Zero Orange, Fanta Zero Sugar, Fanta Apple, etc.; “Trademark Sprite” includes Sprite, Sprite Zero Sugar, etc.; and “Trademark Simply” includes Simply Orange, Simply Apple, Simply Grapefruit, etc.).

Our Company markets, manufactures and sells:

• beverage concentrates, sometimes referred to as “beverage bases,” and syrups, including fountain syrups (we refer to this part of our business as our “concentrate operations”); and

• finished sparkling soft drinks and other beverages (we refer to this part of our business as our “finished product operations”).

Generally, finished product operations generate higher net operating revenues but lower gross profit margins than concentrate operations.

Our concentrate operations typically generate net operating revenues by selling concentrates, syrups and certain finished beverages to authorized bottling operations (to which we typically refer as our “bottlers” or our “bottling partners”). Our bottling partners either combine concentrates with still or sparkling water and sweeteners (depending on the product), or combine syrups with still or sparkling water, to produce finished beverages. The finished beverages are packaged in authorized containers, such as cans and refillable and nonrefillable glass and plastic bottles, bearing our trademarks or trademarks licensed to us and are then sold to retailers directly or, in some cases, through wholesalers or other bottlers. In addition, outside the United States, our bottling partners are typically authorized to manufacture fountain syrups, using our concentrates, which they sell to fountain retailers for use in producing beverages for immediate consumption, or to authorized fountain wholesalers who in turn sell and distribute the fountain syrups to fountain retailers. Our concentrate operations are included in our geographic operating segments and our Global Ventures operating segment.

Our finished product operations generate net operating revenues by selling sparkling soft drinks and a variety of other finished beverages to retailers or to distributors and wholesalers who in turn sell the beverages to retailers. These operations consist primarily of our consolidated bottling and distribution operations, which are included in our Bottling Investments operating segment. In certain markets, the Company also operates non-bottling finished product operations in which we sell finished beverages to distributors and wholesalers that are generally not one of the Company’s bottling partners. These operations are generally included in one of our geographic operating segments or our Global Ventures operating segment. Additionally, we sell directly to consumers through retail stores operated by Costa Limited (“Costa”). These sales are included in our Global Ventures operating segment. In the United States, we manufacture fountain syrups and sell them to fountain retailers, who use the fountain syrups to produce beverages for immediate consumption, or to authorized fountain wholesalers or bottling partners who in turn sell the fountain syrups to fountain retailers. These fountain syrup sales are included in our North America operating segment.

For information regarding net operating revenues and unit case volume related to our concentrate operations and finished product operations, refer to the heading “Our Business — General” set forth in Part II, “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this report.

For information regarding how we measure the volume of Company beverage products sold by the Company and our bottling partners (“Coca-Cola system”), refer to the heading “Operations Review — Beverage Volume” set forth in Part II, “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this report.

We own and market numerous valuable beverage brands, including the following:

• sparkling soft drinks: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke/Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Fanta, Fresca, Schweppes,1 Sprite and Thums Up;

• hydration, sports, coffee and tea: Aquarius, Ayataka, BODYARMOR, Ciel, Costa, doğadan, Dasani, FUZE TEA, Georgia, glacéau smartwater, glacéau vitaminwater, Gold Peak, Ice Dew, I LOHAS, Powerade and Topo Chico; and

• nutrition, juice, dairy and plant-based beverages: AdeS, Del Valle, fairlife, innocent, Minute Maid, Minute Maid Pulpy and Simply.

1Schweppes is owned by the Company in certain countries other than the United States.

In addition to the beverage brands we own, we also provide marketing support and otherwise participate in the sales of other beverage brands through licenses, joint ventures and strategic partnerships. For example, certain Coca-Cola system bottlers distribute certain brands of Monster Beverage Corporation (“Monster”), primarily Monster Energy, in designated territories in the United States, Canada and other international territories pursuant to distribution coordination agreements between the Company and Monster and related distribution agreements between Monster and Coca-Cola system bottlers.

Consumer demand determines the optimal menu of Company product offerings. Consumer demand can vary from one market to another and can change over time within a single market. Our Company continually seeks to further optimize its portfolio of brands, products and services in order to create and satisfy consumer demand in every market.

Distribution System

We make our branded beverage products available to consumers in more than 200 countries and territories through our network of independent bottling partners, distributors, wholesalers and retailers as well as our consolidated bottling and distribution operations. Consumers enjoy finished beverage products bearing trademarks owned by or licensed to the Company at a rate of 2.1 billion servings each day. Our strong and stable bottling and distribution system helps us to capture growth by manufacturing, distributing and selling existing, enhanced and new innovative products to consumers throughout the world.

The Coca-Cola system sold 31.3 billion and 29.0 billion unit cases of our products in 2021 and 2020, respectively. Sparkling soft drinks represented 69 percent of our worldwide unit case volume in both 2021 and 2020. Trademark Coca-Cola accounted for 47 percent of our worldwide unit case volume in both 2021 and 2020. In 2021, unit case volume in the United States

represented 17 percent of the Company’s worldwide unit case volume. Of the U.S. unit case volume, 61 percent was attributable to sparkling soft drinks. Trademark Coca-Cola accounted for 42 percent of U.S. unit case volume. Unit case volume outside the United States represented 83 percent of the Company’s worldwide unit case volume in 2021. The countries outside the United States in which our unit case volumes were the largest were Mexico, China, Brazil and India, which together accounted for 31 percent of our worldwide unit case volume. Of the non-U.S. unit case volume, 71 percent was attributable to sparkling soft drinks. Trademark Coca-Cola accounted for 48 percent of non-U.S. unit case volume.

Our five largest independent bottling partners based on unit case volume in 2021 were as follows:

• Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. (“Coca-Cola FEMSA”), which has bottling and distribution operations in Mexico (a substantial part of central Mexico, including Mexico City, as well as southeast and northeast Mexico), Guatemala (nationwide), Nicaragua (nationwide), Costa Rica (nationwide), Panama (nationwide), Colombia (most of the country), Venezuela (nationwide), Brazil (a major part of the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, the state of Paraná, the state of Santa Catarina, part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, part of the state of Goiás and part of the state of Rio de Janeiro), Argentina (federal capital of Buenos Aires and surrounding areas) and Uruguay (nationwide);

• Coca-Cola Europacific Partners plc (“CCEP”), which has bottling and distribution operations in Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Fiji, continental France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Samoa, Spain and Sweden;

• Coca-Cola HBC AG (“Coca-Cola Hellenic”), which has bottling and distribution operations in Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine;

• Arca Continental, S.A.B. de C.V., which has bottling and distribution operations in northern and western Mexico, northern Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, and the state of Texas and parts of the states of New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arkansas in the United States; and

• Swire Beverages, which has bottling and distribution operations in 11 provinces and the Shanghai Municipality in the eastern and southern areas of mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and territories in 13 states in the western United States.

In 2021, these five bottling partners combined represented 41 percent of our total worldwide unit case volume.

Being a bottler does not create a legal partnership or joint venture between us and our bottlers. Our bottlers are independent contractors and are not our agents.

Bottler’s Agreements

We have separate contracts, to which we generally refer as “bottler’s agreements,” with our bottling partners under which our bottling partners are granted certain authorizations by us. Subject to specified terms and conditions and certain variations, the bottler’s agreements generally authorize the bottlers to prepare, package, distribute and sell Company Trademark Beverages in authorized containers in (but, subject to applicable local law, generally only in) an identified territory. The bottler is obligated to purchase its entire requirement of concentrates or syrups for the designated Company Trademark Beverages from the Company or Company-authorized suppliers. We typically agree to refrain from selling or distributing, or from authorizing third parties to sell or distribute, the designated Company Trademark Beverages throughout the identified territory in the particular authorized containers. However, we typically reserve for ourselves or our designee the right (1) to prepare and package such Company Trademark Beverages in such containers in the territory for sale outside the territory; (2) to prepare, package, distribute and sell such Company Trademark Beverages in the territory in any other manner or form (territorial restrictions on bottlers vary in some cases in accordance with local law); and (3) to handle certain key accounts (accounts that cover multiple territories).

While under most of our bottler’s agreements we generally have complete flexibility to determine the price and other terms of sale of the concentrates and syrups we sell to our bottlers, as a practical matter, our Company’s ability to exercise its contractual flexibility to determine the price and other terms of sale of concentrates and syrups is subject, both outside and within the United States, to competitive market conditions. However, in an effort to allow our Company and our bottling partners to grow together through shared value, aligned financial objectives and the flexibility necessary to meet consumers’ always changing needs and tastes, we have implemented an incidence-based concentrate pricing model in most markets. Under this model, the concentrate price we charge is impacted by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, bottler pricing, the channels in which the finished products produced from the concentrates are sold, and package mix.

As further discussed below, our bottler’s agreements for territories outside the United States differ in some respects from our bottler’s agreements for territories within the United States.

Bottler’s Agreements Outside the United States

Bottler’s agreements between us and our authorized bottlers outside the United States generally are of stated duration, subject in some cases to possible extensions or renewals. Generally, these bottler’s agreements are subject to termination by the Company following the occurrence of certain designated events, including defined events of default and certain changes in ownership or control of the bottlers. Most of the bottler’s agreements in force between us and bottlers outside the United States authorize the bottlers to manufacture and distribute fountain syrups, usually on a nonexclusive basis.

In certain parts of the world outside the United States, we have not granted comprehensive beverage production and distribution rights to the bottlers. In such instances, we have authorized certain bottlers to (1) prepare and package Company Trademark Beverages for sale to other bottlers or (2) purchase Company Trademark Beverages from other bottlers for sale and distribution throughout their respective designated territories, often on a nonexclusive basis.

Bottler’s Agreements Within the United States

In the United States, most bottlers operate under a contract to which we generally refer as a “Comprehensive Beverage Agreement” (“CBA”) that is of stated duration, subject in most cases to renewal rights of bottlers and in some cases to renewal rights of the Company. A small number of bottlers continue to operate under legacy bottler’s agreements with no stated expiration date for Trademark Coca-Cola Beverages and other cola-flavored Company Trademark Beverages. In all instances, the bottler’s agreements in the United States are subject to termination by the Company for nonperformance or upon the occurrence of certain defined events of default that may vary from contract to contract.

Certain U.S. bottlers have been granted certain additional exclusive territory rights for the distribution, promotion, marketing and sale of Company-owned and licensed beverage brands (as defined by the CBAs). We refer to these bottlers as “expanding participating bottlers” or “EPBs.” EPBs operate under CBAs (“EPB CBAs”) under which the Company generally retained the rights to produce the applicable beverage products for territories not covered by specific manufacturing agreements, and such bottlers purchase from the Company (or from Company-authorized manufacturing bottlers) substantially all of the finished beverage products needed in order to service the customers in these territories. Each EPB CBA has a term of 10 years and is renewable, in most cases by the bottler, and in some cases by the Company, indefinitely for successive additional terms of 10 years each and includes additional requirements that provide for, among other things, a binding national governance model, mandatory incidence pricing and certain core performance requirements. The Company has also entered into manufacturing agreements that authorize certain EPBs that have executed EPB CBAs to manufacture certain beverage products for their own account and for supply to other bottlers.

In addition, certain U.S. bottlers that were not granted additional exclusive territory rights, which we refer to as “participating bottlers,” converted their legacy bottler’s agreements to CBAs, to which we refer as “participating bottler CBAs,” each of which has a term of 10 years, is renewable by the bottler indefinitely for successive additional terms of 10 years each, and is substantially similar in most material respects to the EPB CBAs, including with respect to requirements for a binding national governance model and mandatory incidence pricing, but includes core performance requirements that vary in certain respects from those in the EPB CBAs.

Those bottlers that have not signed CBAs continue to operate under legacy bottler’s agreements that include pricing formulas that generally provide for a baseline price for Trademark Coca-Cola Beverages and other cola-flavored Company Trademark Beverages. This baseline price may be adjusted periodically by the Company, up to a maximum indexed ceiling price, and is adjusted quarterly based upon changes in certain sugar or sweetener prices, as applicable. The U.S. unit case volume prepared, packaged, sold and distributed under these legacy bottler’s agreements is not material.

Under the terms of the bottler’s agreements, bottlers in the United States generally are not authorized to manufacture fountain syrups. Rather, the Company manufactures and sells fountain syrups to authorized fountain wholesalers (including certain authorized bottlers) and some fountain retailers. These wholesalers in turn sell the syrups, or deliver them on our behalf, to restaurants and other retailers.

Promotional and Marketing Programs

In addition to conducting our own independent advertising and marketing activities, we may provide promotional and marketing support and/or funds to our bottlers. In most cases, we do this on a discretionary basis under the terms of commitment letters or agreements, even though we are not obligated to do so under the terms of the bottler’s agreements between our Company and the bottlers. Also, on a discretionary basis in most cases, our Company may develop and introduce new products, packages and equipment to assist the bottlers. Likewise, in many instances, we provide promotional and marketing support and/or funds and/or dispensing equipment and repair services to fountain and bottle/can retailers, typically pursuant to marketing agreements. The aggregate amount provided by our Company to bottlers, resellers and other customers of our Company’s products, principally for participation in promotional and marketing programs, was $4.7 billion in 2021.

Investments in Bottling Operations

Most of our branded beverage products are prepared, packaged, distributed and sold by independent bottling partners. However, from time to time we acquire or take control of a bottling operation, often in underperforming markets where we believe we can use our resources and expertise to improve performance. Owning a bottling operation enables us to compensate for limited local resources; help focus the bottler’s sales and marketing programs; assist in the development of the bottler’s business and information systems; and establish an appropriate capital structure for the bottler. In line with our long-term bottling strategy, we may periodically consider options for divesting or reducing our ownership interest in a consolidated bottling operation, typically by selling all or a portion of our interest in the bottling operation to an independent bottler to improve Coca-Cola system efficiency. When we sell a consolidated bottling operation to an independent bottling partner in which we have an equity method investment, our Company continues to participate in the bottler’s results of operations through our share of the equity method investee’s earnings or losses.

In addition, from time to time we make equity investments representing noncontrolling interests in selected bottling operations with the intention of maximizing the strength and efficiency of the Coca-Cola system’s production, marketing, sales and distribution capabilities around the world by providing expertise and resources to strengthen those businesses. These investments are intended to result in increases in unit case volume, net revenues and profits at the bottler level, which in turn generate increased sales for our Company’s concentrate operations. When our equity investment provides us with the ability to exercise significant influence over the investee bottler’s operating and financial policies, we account for the investment under the equity method.

Seasonality

Sales of our ready-to-drink beverages are somewhat seasonal, with the second and third calendar quarters accounting for the highest sales volumes. The volume of sales in the beverage business may be affected by weather conditions.

Competition

The commercial beverage industry is highly competitive and consists of numerous companies, ranging from small or emerging to very large and well established. These include companies that, like our Company, compete globally in multiple geographic areas, as well as businesses that are primarily regional or local in operation. Competitive products include numerous nonalcoholic sparkling soft drinks; water products, including flavored and enhanced waters; juices, juice drinks and nectars; dilutables (including syrups and powders); coffees; teas; energy drinks; sports drinks; milk and other dairy-based drinks; plant-based beverages; functional beverages, including vitamin-based products and relaxation beverages; and various other nonalcoholic beverages. These competitive products are sold to consumers in both ready-to-drink and non-ready-to-drink form. The Company has directly entered the alcohol beverage segment in numerous markets outside the United States. In the United States, the Company has authorized alcohol-licensed third parties to use certain of our brands on alcohol beverages. Competitive products include all flavored alcohol beverages of varying alcohol bases. In many of the countries in which we do business, PepsiCo, Inc. is a primary competitor. Other significant competitors include, but are not limited to, Nestlé S.A., Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., Danone S.A., Suntory Beverage & Food Limited, Unilever, AB InBev, Kirin Holdings, Heineken N.V., Diageo and Red Bull GmbH. We also compete against numerous regional and local companies and, increasingly, against smaller companies that are developing microbrands and selling them directly to consumers through e-commerce retailers and other e-commerce platforms. In addition, in some markets, we compete against retailers that have developed their own store or private-label beverage brands.

Competitive factors impacting our business include, but are not limited to, pricing, advertising, sales promotion programs, in-store displays and point-of-sale marketing, digital marketing, product and ingredient innovation, increased efficiency in production techniques, the introduction of new packaging as well as new vending and dispensing equipment, contracting with marketing assets (theaters, sports arenas, universities, etc.), and brand and trademark development and protection.

Our competitive strengths include leading brands with high levels of consumer recognition and loyalty; a worldwide network of bottlers and distributors of Company products; sophisticated marketing capabilities; and a talented group of dedicated employees. Our competitive challenges include strong competitors in all geographic regions; in many countries, a concentrated retail sector with powerful buyers able to freely choose among Company products, products of competitive beverage suppliers and individual retailers’ own store or private-label beverage brands; new industry entrants; and dramatic shifts in consumer shopping methods and patterns due to a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Raw Materials

Water is a main ingredient in substantially all of our products. While historically we have not experienced significant water supply difficulties, water is a limited natural resource in many parts of the world, and our Company recognizes water availability, quality and sustainability, for both our operations and also the communities where we operate, as one of the key challenges facing our business.

In addition to water, the principal raw materials used in our business are nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners. In the United States, the principal nutritive sweetener is high fructose corn syrup (“HFCS”), which is nutritionally equivalent to sugar. HFCS is available from numerous domestic sources and has historically been subject to fluctuations in its market price. The principal nutritive sweetener used by our business outside the United States is sucrose, i.e., table sugar, which is also available from numerous sources and has historically been subject to fluctuations in its market price. Our Company generally has not experienced any difficulties in obtaining its requirements for nutritive sweeteners. In the United States, we purchase HFCS to meet our and our bottlers’ requirements with the assistance of Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Sales & Services Company LLC (“CCBSS”). CCBSS is a limited liability company that is owned by authorized Coca-Cola bottlers doing business in the United States. Among other things, CCBSS provides procurement services to our North American operations and to our U.S. bottling partners for the purchase of various goods and services, including HFCS.

The principal non-nutritive sweeteners we use in our business are aspartame, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, saccharin, cyclamate and steviol glycosides. Generally, these raw materials are readily available from numerous sources. We purchase sucralose, which we consider a critical raw material, from suppliers in the United States and China. Our Company generally has not experienced major difficulties in obtaining its requirements for non-nutritive sweeteners.

Juice and juice concentrate from various fruits, particularly orange juice and orange juice concentrate, are the principal raw materials for our juice and juice drink products. We source our orange juice and orange juice concentrate primarily from Florida and the Southern Hemisphere (particularly Brazil). We work closely with Cutrale Citrus Juices U.S.A., Inc., our primary supplier of orange juice from Florida and Brazil, to ensure an adequate supply of orange juice and orange juice concentrate that meets our Company’s standards. However, the citrus industry is impacted by greening disease and the variability of weather conditions that can impact the quality and supply of orange juice and orange juice concentrate. In particular, freezing weather or hurricanes in central Florida may result in shortages and higher prices for orange juice and orange juice concentrate throughout the industry. In addition, greening disease is reducing the number of citrus trees and increasing grower costs and prices.

We generate most of our coffee revenues through Costa. Costa purchases Rainforest Alliance Certified green coffee through multiple suppliers. While most of Costa’s coffee is sourced as readily available bulked commercial grade from Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia, many of Costa’s suppliers have vertically integrated supply chains with direct access to yields from cooperatives and producer groups.

Our consolidated bottling operations and our non-bottling finished product operations also purchase various other raw materials including, but not limited to, polyethylene terephthalate (“PET”) resin, preforms and bottles; glass and aluminum bottles; aluminum and steel cans; plastic closures; aseptic fiber packaging; labels; cartons; cases; postmix packaging; and beverage gases, including carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen. We generally purchase these raw materials from multiple suppliers and historically have not experienced significant shortages.

Patents, Copyrights, Trade Secrets and Trademarks

Our Company owns numerous patents, copyrights and trade secrets and other know-how and technology, which we collectively refer to in this report as “technology.” This technology generally relates to beverage products and the processes for their production; packages and packaging materials; design and operation of processes and equipment useful for our business; and certain software. Some of the technology is licensed to suppliers and other parties. Trade secrets are an important aspect of our technology, and our sparkling beverage and other beverage formulas are among the important trade secrets of our Company.

We own numerous trademarks that are very important to our business. Depending upon the jurisdiction, trademarks are valid as long as they are in use and/or their registrations are properly maintained. Pursuant to our bottler’s agreements, we authorize our bottlers to use applicable Company trademarks in connection with their preparation, packaging, distribution and sale of Company products. In addition, we grant licenses to third parties from time to time to use certain of our trademarks in conjunction with certain merchandise and food products.

Governmental Regulation

Our Company is required to comply, and it is our policy to comply, with all applicable laws in the numerous countries throughout the world in which we do business. In many jurisdictions, our operations may come under special scrutiny by competition law authorities due to our competitive position in those jurisdictions.

In the United States, the safety, production, transportation, distribution, advertising, labeling and sale of our Company’s products and their ingredients are subject to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; the Federal Trade Commission Act; the Lanham Act; state consumer protection laws; competition laws; federal, state and local workplace health and safety laws; various federal, state and local environmental protection laws; privacy and personal data protection laws; and various other federal, state and local statutes and regulations. Outside the United States, our business is subject to numerous similar statutes and regulations, as well as other legal and regulatory requirements.

Under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (“Proposition 65”) of the state of California, if the state has determined that a substance causes cancer or harms human reproduction or development, a warning must be provided for any product sold in the state that exposes consumers to that substance, unless the conditions of an exemption (described below) can be met. The state maintains lists of these substances and periodically adds other substances to these lists. The detection of even a trace amount of a listed substance can subject an affected product to the requirement of a warning label. However, Proposition 65 does not require a warning if the manufacturer of a product can demonstrate that the use of that product exposes consumers to a daily quantity of a listed substance that is:

• below a “safe harbor” threshold that may be established;

• naturally occurring;

• the result of necessary cooking; or

• subject to another applicable exemption.

One or more substances that are currently on the Proposition 65 lists, or that may be added in the future, can be detected in certain Company products at low levels that are safe. With respect to substances that have not yet been listed under Proposition 65, the Company takes the position that listing is not scientifically justified. With respect to substances that are already listed, the Company takes the position that the presence of each such substance in Company products is subject to an applicable exemption from the warning requirement or that the product is otherwise in compliance with Proposition 65. However, the state of California and other parties have in the past taken a contrary position and may do so in the future.

Bottlers of our beverage products presently offer, among other beverage containers, nonrefillable recyclable containers in the United States and various other markets around the world. Some of these bottlers also offer and use refillable containers, which are also recyclable. Legal requirements apply in various jurisdictions in the United States and overseas requiring that deposits or certain ecotaxes or fees be charged in connection with the sale, marketing and use of certain beverage containers. The precise requirements imposed by these measures vary. Other types of statutes and regulations relating to beverage container deposits, recycling, ecotaxes and/or product stewardship also apply in various jurisdictions in the United States and overseas. We anticipate that additional such legal requirements may be proposed or enacted in the future at federal, state and local levels, both in the United States and elsewhere around the world.

All of our Company’s facilities and other operations in the United States and elsewhere around the world are subject to various environmental protection statutes and regulations, including those relating to the use of water resources and the discharge of wastewater. Our policy is to comply with all such legal requirements. Compliance with these provisions has not had, and we do not expect such compliance will have, any material adverse effect on our Company’s capital expenditures, net income or competitive position.

We are also subject to various federal, state and international laws and regulations related to privacy and data protection, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) as well as the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), which became effective on January 1, 2020, and its extension, the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), which will take effect on January 1, 2023. The interpretation and application of data privacy, cross-border data transfers and data protection laws and regulations are often uncertain and are evolving in the United States and internationally, such as in the European Union, China and other jurisdictions. We monitor pending and proposed legislation and regulatory initiatives to ascertain their relevance to and potential impact on our business and develop strategies to address regulatory trends and developments, including any required changes to our privacy and data protection compliance programs and policies. Globally, we see a growing trend toward data protection laws and regulations increasing in complexity and number, and we anticipate that our obligations will expand commensurately.

Human Capital Management

Our people and culture agendas are critical business priorities. Our Board of Directors, through the Talent and Compensation Committee, provides oversight of the Company’s policies and strategies relating to talent, leadership and culture, including diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as the Company’s compensation philosophy and programs. The Talent and Compensation Committee also evaluates and approves the Company’s compensation plans, policies and programs applicable to our senior executives. In addition, the Committee on Directors and Corporate Governance of the Board of Directors oversees succession planning and talent development for our senior executives.

Employees

We believe people are our most important asset, and we strive to attract and retain high-performing talent. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, our Company had approximately 79,000 and 80,300 employees, respectively, of which approximately 9,400 and 9,300, respectively, were located in the United States. Our Company, through its divisions and subsidiaries, is a party to numerous collective bargaining agreements. As of December 31, 2021, approximately 700 employees in North America were

covered by collective bargaining agreements. These agreements typically have terms of three to five years. We currently anticipate that we will be able to successfully renegotiate such agreements when they expire.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We believe that a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that mirrors the markets we serve is a strategic business priority and critical to the Company’s success. We take a comprehensive view of diversity, equity and inclusion across different races, ethnicities, tribes, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, generations, abilities, and expressions of gender and sexual identity.

As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately 8,400 employees located in the United States, excluding the employees of the Global Ventures operating segment, fairlife, LLC and BA Sports Nutrition, LLC. Of these employees, 39 percent and 46 percent were female and people of color, respectively.

We are focused on social justice issues, including racial and gender equity, both in the United States and around the world. In 2021, we announced our 2030 aspirations to be 50 percent led by women globally, and in the United States, to reflect the U.S. Census racial and ethnic representation at all job grade levels. Each of our operating units outside the United States has developed locally relevant diversity, equity and inclusion aspirations. Diversity and inclusion metrics, which highlight progress and help drive accountability, are shared with our senior leaders on a quarterly basis. Our Global Women’s Leadership Council, composed of eight executives, focuses on accelerating the development and promotion of women into roles of increasing responsibility and influence.

We conduct annual pay equity analyses, with regard to gender globally and race/ethnicity in the United States, to help ensure our base pay structures are fair and to identify and address potential issues or disparities. We make adjustments to base pay, where appropriate. Also, as permitted by local law, during the annual rewards cycle, we perform an adverse impact analysis on base pay, annual incentives and long-term incentives to help ensure fairness.

We support many employee-led inclusion networks, which are an integral part of our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy. Our inclusion networks are regionally structured in order to meet relevant local needs, and they provide employees with the opportunity to engage with colleagues globally based on common interests or backgrounds.

Compensation and Benefits

Through comprehensive and competitive compensation and benefits, ongoing employee learning and development, and a focus on health and well-being, we strive to support our employees in all aspects of their lives. Our compensation programs are designed to reinforce our growth agenda and our talent strategy as well as to drive a strong connection between the contributions of our employees and their pay.

We believe the structure of our compensation packages provides the appropriate incentives to attract, retain and motivate our employees. We provide base pay that is competitive and that aligns with employee positions, skill levels, experience and geographic location. In addition to base pay, we seek to reward employees with annual incentive awards, recognition programs, and equity awards for employees at certain job levels.

We also offer competitive employee benefits packages, which vary by country and region. These employee benefits packages may include: 401(k) plan, pension plan, core and supplemental life insurance, financial courses and advisors, employee assistance programs, tuition assistance, commuter assistance, adoption assistance, medical and dental insurance, vision insurance, health savings accounts, health reimbursement and flexible spending accounts, well-being rewards programs, vacation pay, holiday pay, and parental and adoption leave.

Culture and Engagement

As our employees work together to achieve our purpose to “Refresh the World and Make a Difference,” they collectively build and reinforce our culture. Our culture is rooted in our growth mindset, which expects each employee, leader and function to be curious, empowered, inclusive and agile. We use a variety of practices to measure and support progress against these growth behaviors and to ensure that our employees are engaged and fulfilled at work. For example, our Performance Enablement and Culture & Engagement Pulse platforms provide regular opportunities for employees across the organization to provide feedback on how their leaders, teammates and work experiences support the growth behaviors. Data from questionnaires are anonymized and plotted against historical results to inform teams and functions on areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. We also encourage regular, live communication across the organization and host quarterly global town halls with our senior leadership that include employee question-and-answer sessions. In addition, function-level town halls are held on a regular basis.

Leadership, Training and Development

We focus on investing in inspirational leadership, learning opportunities and capabilities to equip our global workforce with the skills they need while improving engagement and retention. We provide a range of formal and informal learning programs, which are designed to help our employees continuously grow and strengthen their skills throughout their careers. We offer a

variety of programs that contribute to our leadership, training and development goals, including: Coca-Cola University, a robust catalog of digital content, including courseware from Harvard, eCornell, and LinkedIn Learning; Opportunity Marketplace, a people-centered technology solution that helps connect project opportunities to interested employees who have the capacity, skills and interest in short-term experiences and assignments; and comprehensive enterprise-wide coaching and mentoring programs that support leadership and employee development.

Available Information

The Company maintains a website at the following address: www.coca-colacompany.com. The information on the Company’s website is not incorporated by reference in this report. We make available on or through our website certain reports and amendments to those reports that we file with or furnish to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”). These include our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current Reports on Form 8-K. We make this information available on our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the information with, or furnish it to, the SEC. In addition, we routinely post on the “Investors” page of our website news releases, announcements and other statements about our business and results of operations, some of which may contain information that may be deemed material to investors. Therefore, we encourage investors to monitor the “Investors” page of our website and review the information we post on that page.

The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at the following address: http://www.sec.gov.

In addition to the other information set forth in this report, you should carefully consider the following factors, which could materially affect our business, financial condition and results of operations in future periods. The risks described below are not the only risks facing our Company. Additional risks not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations in future periods.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR OPERATIONS

The COVID-19 pandemic and related ongoing impacts may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the related actions by governments around the world to attempt to contain the spread of the virus have negatively impacted, and could continue to negatively impact, our business globally. Our recovery has been asynchronous and the full extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will affect our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including, among others, new information which may emerge concerning the pandemic, vaccine adoption rates (including boosters) and the effectiveness of vaccines in limiting or stopping the spread of COVID-19, either over the long term or against new, emerging variants of COVID-19, and any related actions by governments.

The extent and nature of government actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic varied throughout 2020 and 2021 based upon the then-current extent and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic within the respective markets. At times we experienced a decrease in sales of certain of our products in markets around the world, including consumer demand shifting to more at-home consumption versus away-from-home consumption. While in 2021 we have experienced improved trends in away-from-home channels and improved margins, if COVID-19 infection rates increase, the pandemic intensifies or expands geographically, or continued efforts to curb the pandemic are ineffective, the negative impacts of the pandemic on our sales could be more prolonged and may become more severe than we are currently experiencing. In addition, continuing economic and political uncertainties, such as increased unemployment, decreases in disposable income, declines in consumer confidence, or economic slowdowns or recessions in any of our major markets, may slow down or prevent the recovery of the demand for our products or may erode such demand.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted and could continue to disrupt our global supply chain. We and our bottling partners have experienced temporary disruptions in certain of our operations; delays in delivery of concentrates, ingredients, packaging and equipment; temporary plant closures; production slowdowns; and difficulty or delays in sourcing key ingredients and beverage containers. We and our bottling partners may face similar disruptions in the future, which may increase supply chain and packaging costs, or may result in an inability to secure key ingredients and inputs, which could cause delays in delivering our products to our customers and consumers. Although we are unable to predict the impact on our ability to source materials in the future, we expect supply chain pressures to continue into 2022.

In addition to the above risks, the COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate other risks related to our business, including risks related to changes in the retail landscape or the loss of key retail or foodservice customers; fluctuations in input costs, inflation rates, and foreign currency exchange rates; and the ability of third-party service providers and business partners to fulfill their

respective commitments and responsibilities to us in a timely manner and in accordance with the agreed-upon terms. The continuing evolution of the pandemic may also present risks not currently known to us.

Increased competition could hurt our business.

We operate in the highly competitive commercial beverage industry. For additional information regarding the competitive environment in which we operate, including the names of certain of our significant competitors, refer to the heading “Competition” set forth in Part I, “Item 1. Business” of this report. Our ability to maintain or gain share of sales in the global market or in local markets may be limited as a result of actions by competitors. Competitive pressures may cause the Company and our bottling partners to reduce prices we charge customers or may restrict our and our bottlers’ ability to increase prices, as may be necessary in response to commodity and other cost increases. Such pressures may also increase marketing costs along with in-store placement and slotting fees. In addition, the rapid growth of e‑commerce may create additional consumer price deflation by, among other things, facilitating comparison shopping, and could potentially threaten the value of some of our legacy route-to-market strategies and thus negatively affect revenues. If we do not continuously strengthen our capabilities in marketing and innovation to maintain consumer interest, brand loyalty and market share while we selectively expand into other profitable categories in the commercial beverage industry, our business could be negatively affected.

If we are not successful in our innovation activities, our financial results may be negatively affected.

Achieving our business growth objectives depends in part on our ability to evolve and improve our existing beverage products through innovation and to successfully develop, introduce and market new beverage products. The success of our innovation activities depends on our ability to correctly anticipate customer and consumer acceptance and trends; obtain, maintain and enforce necessary intellectual property protections; and avoid infringing on the intellectual property rights of others. If we are not successful in our innovation activities, we may not be able to achieve our growth objectives, which may have a negative impact on our financial results.

Changes in the retail landscape or the loss of key retail or foodservice customers could adversely affect our financial results.

Our industry is being affected by the trend toward consolidation in, and the blurring of the lines between, retail channels, particularly in Europe and the United States. Larger retailers may seek lower prices from us and our bottling partners, may demand increased marketing or promotional expenditures, and may be more likely to use their distribution networks to introduce and develop private-label brands, any of which could negatively affect the Coca-Cola system’s profitability. In addition, in developed markets discounters and value stores are growing at a rapid pace, while in emerging and developing markets modern trade is growing at a faster pace than traditional trade outlets. Our industry is also being affected by the rapid growth in sales through e-commerce retailers, e-commerce websites, mobile commerce applications and subscription services, which may result in a shift away from physical retail operations to digital channels. As we and our bottling partners build e-commerce capabilities, we may not be able to develop and maintain successful relationships with existing and new e-commerce retailers without experiencing a deterioration of our relationships with key customers operating physical retail channels. If we are unable to successfully adapt to the rapidly changing retail landscape, including the rapid growth in digital commerce, our share of sales, volume growth and overall financial results could be negatively affected. In addition, our success depends in part on our ability to maintain good relationships with key retail and foodservice customers. The loss of one or more of our key retail or foodservice customers could have an adverse effect on

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Not applicable.

Our worldwide headquarters is located on a 35-acre complex in Atlanta, Georgia. The complex includes several office buildings which are used by Corporate employees and North America operating segment employees. In addition, the complex includes technical and engineering facilities along with a reception center.

We own or lease additional facilities, real estate and office space throughout the world, which we use for administrative, manufacturing, processing, packaging, storage, warehousing, distribution and retail operations. These properties are generally included in the geographic operating segment in which they are located, with the exception of our Costa retail stores, which are included in the Global Ventures operating segment, and facilities related to our consolidated bottling and distribution operations, which are included in the Bottling Investments operating segment.

The following table summarizes our principal production facilities, distribution and storage facilities, and retail stores by operating segment and Corporate as of December 31, 2021:

Management believes that our Company’s facilities used for the production of our products are suitable and adequate, that they are being appropriately utilized in line with past experience, and that they have sufficient production capacity for their present intended purposes. The extent of utilization of our production facilities varies based upon seasonal demand for our products. However, management believes that additional production can be achieved at the existing facilities by adding personnel and capital equipment or, at some facilities, by adding shifts of personnel or expanding the facilities. We continuously review our anticipated requirements for facilities and, on the basis of that review, may from time to time acquire or lease additional facilities and/or dispose of existing facilities.

The Company is involved in various legal proceedings, including the proceedings specifically discussed below. Management

believes that, except as disclosed in “U.S. Federal Income Tax Dispute” below, the total liabilities of the Company that may arise as a result of currently pending legal proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on the Company taken as a whole.

Aqua-Chem Litigation

On December 20, 2002, the Company filed a lawsuit (The Coca-Cola Company v. Aqua-Chem, Inc., Civil Action No. 2002CV631-50) in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia (“Georgia Case”), seeking a declaratory judgment that the Company has no obligation to its former subsidiary, Aqua-Chem, Inc., now known as Cleaver-Brooks, Inc. (“Aqua-Chem”), for any past, present or future liabilities or expenses in connection with any claims or lawsuits against Aqua-Chem. Subsequent to the Company’s filing but on the same day, Aqua-Chem filed a lawsuit (Aqua-Chem, Inc. v. The Coca-Cola Company, Civil Action No. 02CV012179) in the Circuit Court, Civil Division of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (“Wisconsin Case”). In the Wisconsin Case, Aqua-Chem sought a declaratory judgment that the Company is responsible for all liabilities and expenses not covered by insurance in connection with certain of Aqua-Chem’s general and product liability claims arising from occurrences prior to the Company’s sale of Aqua-Chem in 1981, and a judgment for breach of contract in an amount exceeding $9 million for costs incurred by Aqua-Chem to date in connection with such claims. The Wisconsin Case initially was stayed, pending final resolution of the Georgia Case, and later was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice by Aqua-Chem.

The Company owned Aqua-Chem from 1970 to 1981. During that time, the Company purchased over $400 million of insurance coverage, which also insures Aqua-Chem for some of its prior and future costs for certain product liability and other claims. The Company sold Aqua-Chem to Lyonnaise American Holding, Inc., in 1981 under the terms of a stock sale agreement. The 1981 agreement, and a subsequent 1983 settlement agreement, outlined the parties’ rights and obligations concerning past and future claims and lawsuits involving Aqua-Chem. Cleaver-Brooks, a division of Aqua-Chem, manufactured boilers, some of

which contained asbestos gaskets. Aqua-Chem was first named as a defendant in asbestos lawsuits in or around 1985 and currently has approximately 15,000 active claims pending against it.

The parties agreed in 2004 to stay the Georgia Case pending the outcome of insurance coverage litigation filed by certain Aqua-Chem insurers on March 26, 2004. In the coverage action, five plaintiff insurance companies filed suit (Century Indemnity Company, et al. v. Aqua-Chem, Inc., The Coca-Cola Company, et al., Case No. 04CV002852) in the Circuit Court, Civil Division of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, against the Company, Aqua-Chem and 16 insurance companies. Several of the policies that were the subject of the coverage action had been issued to the Company during the period (1970 to 1981) when the Company owned Aqua-Chem. The complaint sought a determination of the respective rights and obligations under the insurance policies issued with regard to asbestos-related claims against Aqua-Chem. The action also sought a monetary judgment reimbursing any amounts paid by the plaintiffs in excess of their obligations. Two of the insurers, one with a $15 million policy limit and one with a $25 million policy limit, asserted cross-claims against the Company, alleging that the Company and/or its insurers are responsible for Aqua-Chem’s asbestos liabilities before any obligation is triggered on the part of the cross-claimant insurers to pay for such costs under their policies.

Aqua-Chem and the Company filed and obtained a partial summary judgment determination in the coverage action that the insurers for Aqua-Chem and the Company were jointly and severally liable for coverage amounts, but reserving judgment on other defenses that might apply. During the course of the Wisconsin insurance coverage litigation, Aqua-Chem and the Company reached settlements with several of the insurers, including plaintiffs, who paid funds into escrow accounts for payment of costs arising from the asbestos claims against Aqua-Chem. On July 24, 2007, the Wisconsin trial court entered a final declaratory judgment regarding the rights and obligations of the parties under the insurance policies issued by the remaining defendant insurers, which judgment was not appealed. The judgment directs, among other things, that each insurer whose policy is triggered is jointly and severally liable for 100 percent of Aqua-Chem’s losses up to policy limits. The court’s judgment concluded the Wisconsin insurance coverage litigation.

The Company and Aqua-Chem continued to pursue and obtain coverage agreements for the asbestos-related claims against Aqua-Chem with those insurance companies that did not settle in the Wisconsin insurance coverage litigation. The Company anticipated that a final settlement with three of those insurers (“Chartis insurers”) would be finalized in May 2011, but the Chartis insurers repudiated their settlement commitments and, as a result, Aqua-Chem and the Company filed suit against them in Wisconsin state court to enforce the coverage-in-place settlement or, in the alternative, to obtain a declaratory judgment validating Aqua-Chem and the Company’s interpretation of the court’s judgment in the Wisconsin insurance coverage litigation.

In February 2012, the parties filed and argued a number of cross-motions for summary judgment related to the issues of the enforceability of the settlement agreement and the exhaustion of policies underlying those of the Chartis insurers. The court granted defendants’ motions for summary judgment that the 2011 Settlement Agreement and 2010 Term Sheet were not binding contracts, but denied their similar motions related to plaintiffs’ claims for promissory and/or equitable estoppel. On or about May 15, 2012, the parties entered into a mutually agreeable settlement/stipulation resolving two major issues: exhaustion of underlying coverage and control of defense. On or about January 10, 2013, the parties reached a settlement of the estoppel claims and all of the remaining coverage issues, with the exception of one disputed issue relating to the scope of the Chartis insurers’ defense obligations in two policy years. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Company and Aqua-Chem on that one open issue and entered a final appealable judgment to that effect following the parties’ settlement. On January 23, 2013, the Chartis insurers filed a notice of appeal of the trial court’s summary judgment ruling. On October 29, 2013, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment in favor of the Company and Aqua-Chem. On November 27, 2013, the Chartis insurers filed a petition for review in the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, and on December 11, 2013, the Company filed its opposition to that petition. On April 16, 2014, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin denied the Chartis insurers’ petition for review.

The Georgia Case remains subject to the stay agreed to in 2004.

U.S. Federal Income Tax Dispute

On September 17, 2015, the Company received a Statutory Notice of Deficiency (“Notice”) from the IRS seeking approximately $3.3 billion of additional federal income tax for years 2007 through 2009. In the Notice, the IRS stated its intent to reallocate over $9 billion of income to the U.S. parent company from certain of its foreign affiliates that the U.S. parent company licensed to manufacture, distribute, sell, market and promote its products in certain non-U.S. markets.

The Notice concerned the Company’s transfer pricing between its U.S. parent company and certain of its foreign affiliates. IRS rules governing transfer pricing require arm’s-length pricing of transactions between related parties such as the Company’s U.S. parent and its foreign affiliates.

To resolve the same transfer pricing issue for the tax years 1987 through 1995, the Company and the IRS had agreed in 1996 on an arm’s-length methodology for determining the amount of U.S. taxable income that the U.S. parent company would report as

compensation from its foreign licensees. The Company and the IRS memorialized this accord in a closing agreement resolving that dispute (“Closing Agreement”). The Closing Agreement provided that, absent a change in material facts or circumstances or relevant federal tax law, in calculating the Company’s income taxes going forward, the Company would not be assessed penalties by the IRS for using the agreed-upon tax calculation methodology that the Company and the IRS agreed would be used for the 1987 through 1995 tax years.

The IRS audited and confirmed the Company’s compliance with the agreed-upon Closing Agreement methodology in five successive audit cycles for tax years 1996 through 2006.

The September 17, 2015 Notice from the IRS retroactively rejected the previously agreed-upon methodology for the 2007 through 2009 tax years in favor of an entirely different methodology, without prior notice to the Company. Using the new tax calculation methodology, the IRS reallocated over $9 billion of income to the U.S. parent company from its foreign licensees for tax years 2007 through 2009. Consistent with the Closing Agreement, the IRS did not assert penalties, and it has yet to do so.

The IRS designated the Company’s matter for litigation on October 15, 2015. Litigation designation is an IRS determination that forecloses to a company any and all alternative means for resolution of a tax dispute. As a result of the IRS’ designation of the Company’s matter for litigation, the Company was forced to either accept the IRS’ newly imposed tax assessment and pay the full amount of the asserted tax or litigate the matter in the federal courts. The matter remains subject to the IRS’ litigation designation, preventing the Company from any attempt to settle or otherwise mutually resolve the matter with the IRS.

The Company consequently initiated litigation by filing a petition in the Tax Court in December 2015, challenging the tax adjustments enumerated in the Notice.

Prior to trial, the IRS increased its transfer pricing adjustment by $385 million, resulting in an additional tax adjustment of $135 million. The Company obtained a summary judgment in its favor on a different matter related to Mexican foreign tax credits, which thereafter effectively reduced the IRS’ potential tax adjustment by approximately $138 million.

The trial was held in the Tax Court from March through May 2018, and final post-trial briefs were filed and exchanged in April 2019.

On November 18, 2020, the Tax Court issued the Opinion in which it predominantly sided with the IRS but agreed with the Company that dividends previously paid by the foreign licensees to the U.S. parent company in reliance upon the Closing Agreement should continue to be allowed to offset royalties, including those that would become payable to the Company in accordance with the Opinion. The Tax Court reserved ruling on the effect of Brazilian legal restrictions on the payment of royalties by the Company’s licensee in Brazil until after the Tax Court issues its opinion in the separate case of 3M Co. & Subs. v. Commissioner, T.C. Docket No. 5816-13 (filed March 11, 2013). Once the Tax Court issues its opinion in 3M Co. & Subs. v. Commissioner, the Company expects the Tax Court thereafter to render another opinion, and ultimately a final decision, in the Company’s case.

The Company believes that the IRS and the Tax Court misinterpreted and misapplied the applicable regulations in reallocating income earned by the Company’s foreign licensees to increase the Company’s U.S. tax. Moreover, the Company believes that the retroactive imposition of such tax liability using a calculation methodology different from that previously agreed upon by the IRS and the Company, and audited by the IRS for over a decade, is unconstitutional. The Company intends to assert its claims on appeal and vigorously defend its position.

In determining the amount of tax reserve to be recorded as of December 31, 2020, the Company completed the required two-step evaluation process prescribed by Accounting Standards Codification 740, Accounting for Income Taxes. In doing so, we consulted with outside advisors, and we reviewed and considered relevant laws, rules, and regulations, including, but not limited to, the Opinion and relevant caselaw. We also considered our intention to vigorously defend our positions and assert our various well-founded legal claims via every available avenue of appeal. We concluded, based on the technical and legal merits of the Company’s tax positions, that it is more likely than not the Company’s tax positions will ultimately be sustained on appeal. In addition, we considered a number of alternative transfer pricing methodologies, including the methodology asserted by the IRS and affirmed in the Opinion (“Tax Court Methodology”), that could be applied by the courts upon final resolution of the litigation. Based on the required probability analysis, we determined the methodologies we believe the federal courts could ultimately order to be used in calculating the Company’s tax. As a result of this analysis, we recorded a tax reserve of $438 million during the year ended December 31, 2020 related to the application of the resulting methodologies as well as the different tax treatment applicable to dividends originally paid to the U.S. parent company by its foreign licensees, in reliance upon the Closing Agreement, that would be recharacterized as royalties in accordance with the Opinion and the Company’s analysis.

The Company’s conclusion that it is more likely than not the Company’s tax positions will ultimately be sustained on appeal is unchanged as of December 31, 2021. However, we updated our calculation of the methodologies we believe the federal courts could ultimately order to be used in calculating the Company’s tax. As a result of the application of the required probability

analysis to these updated calculations and the accrual of interest through the current reporting period, we updated our tax reserve as of December 31, 2021 to $400 million.

While the Company strongly disagrees with the IRS’ positions and the portions of the Opinion affirming such positions, it is possible that some portion or all of the adjustment proposed by the IRS and sustained by the Tax Court could ultimately be upheld. In that event, the Company would likely be subject to significant additional liabilities for tax years 2007 through 2009, and potentially also for subsequent years, which could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.

The Company calculated the potential impact of applying the Tax Court Methodology to reallocate income from foreign licensees potentially covered within the scope of the Opinion, assuming such methodology were to be ultimately upheld by the courts, and the IRS were to decide to apply that methodology to subsequent years, with consent of the federal courts. This impact would include taxes and interest accrued through December 31, 2021 for the 2007 through 2009 litigated tax years and for subsequent tax years from 2010 through 2021. The calculations incorporated the estimated impact of correlative adjustments to the previously accrued transition tax payable under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The Company estimates that the potential aggregate incremental tax and interest liability could be approximately $13 billion as of December 31, 2021. Additional income tax and interest would continue to accrue until the time any such potential liability, or portion thereof, were to be paid. We currently project the continued application of the Tax Court Methodology in future years, assuming similar facts and circumstances as of December 31, 2021, would result in an incremental annual tax liability that would increase the Company’s effective tax rate by approximately 3.5 percent.

The Company does not know when the Tax Court will issue its opinion regarding the effect of Brazilian legal restrictions on the payment of royalties by the Company’s licensee in Brazil for the 2007 through 2009 tax years. After the Tax Court issues its opinion on the Company’s Brazilian licensee, the Company and the IRS will be provided time to agree on the tax impact, if any, of both opinions, after which the Tax Court would render a final decision in the case. The Company will have 90 days thereafter to file a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and pay the tax liability and interest related to the 2007 through 2009 tax years. The Company currently estimates that the payment to be made at that time related to the 2007 through 2009 tax years, which is included in the above estimate of the potential aggregate incremental tax and interest liability, would be approximately $4.9 billion (including interest accrued through December 31, 2021), plus any additional interest accrued through the time of payment. Some or all of this amount would be refunded if the Company were to prevail on appeal.

Not applicable.

ITEM X. INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The following are the executive officers of our Company as of February 22, 2022:

All executive officers serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors. There is no family relationship between any of the Directors or executive officers of the Company.

Part II

The principal United States market in which the Company’s common stock is listed and traded is the New York Stock Exchange and the corresponding trading symbol is “KO.”

While we have historically paid dividends to holders of our common stock on a quarterly basis, the declaration and payment of future dividends will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to, our earnings, financial condition, business development needs and regulatory considerations, and are at the discretion of our Board of Directors.

As of February 18, 2022, there were 191,391 shareowner accounts of record. This figure does not include a substantially greater number of “street name” holders or beneficial holders of our common stock, whose shares are held of record by banks, brokers and other financial institutions.

The information under the subheading “Equity Compensation Plan Information” under the principal heading “Compensation” in the Company’s definitive Proxy Statement for the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareowners (“Company’s 2022 Proxy Statement”), to be filed with the SEC, is incorporated herein by reference.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, no equity securities of the Company were sold by the Company that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

The following table presents information with respect to purchases of common stock of the Company made during the three months ended December 31, 2021 by the Company or any “affiliated purchaser” of the Company as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Exchange Act:

1The total number of shares purchased includes: (i) shares purchased, if any, pursuant to the 2012 Plan described in footnote 2 below and (ii) shares surrendered to the Company to pay the exercise price and/or to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with so-called stock swap exercises of employee stock options and/or the vesting of restricted stock issued to employees.

2On October 18, 2012, the Company publicly announced that our Board of Directors had authorized a plan (“2012 Plan”) for the Company to purchase up to 500 million shares of our common stock. This column discloses the number of shares purchased pursuant to the 2012 Plan during the indicated time periods (including shares purchased pursuant to the terms of preset trading plans meeting the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act).

3On February 21, 2019, the Company publicly announced that our Board of Directors had authorized a new plan (“2019 Plan”) for the Company to purchase up to 150 million shares of our common stock following the completion of the 2012 Plan. This column discloses the number of shares available for purchase under the 2012 Plan and the number of shares authorized for purchase under the 2019 Plan.

Performance Graph

Comparison of Five-Year Cumulative Total Shareowner Return Among

The Coca-Cola Company, the Peer Group Index and the S&P 500 Index

Total Shareowner Return

Stock Price Plus Reinvested Dividends

The total shareowner return is based on a $100 investment on December 31, 2016 and assumes that dividends were reinvested on the day of issuance.

The Peer Group Index is a self-constructed peer group of companies that are included in the Dow Jones Food & Beverage Index and the Dow Jones Tobacco Index, from which the Company has been excluded.

The Peer Group Index consists of the following companies: Altria Group, Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Company, Beyond Meat, Inc., The Boston Beer Company, Inc., Brown-Forman Corporation, Bunge Limited, Campbell Soup Company, ConAgra Brands, Inc., Constellation Brands, Inc., Darling Ingredients Inc., Flowers Foods, Inc., Freshpet Inc., General Mills, Inc., The Hain Celestial Group, Inc., Herbalife Nutrition Ltd., The Hershey Company, Hormel Foods Corporation, Ingredion Incorporated, Kellogg Company, Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., The Kraft Heinz Company, Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc., Lancaster Colony Corporation, McCormick & Company, Incorporated, Molson Coors Brewing Company, Mondelēz International, Inc., Monster Beverage Corporation, National Beverage Corp., PepsiCo, Inc., Performance Food Group Company, Philip Morris International Inc., Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, Post Holdings, Inc., Seaboard Corporation, The J.M. Smucker Company, Tyson Foods, Inc. and US Foods Holding Corp.

Companies included in the Dow Jones Food & Beverage Index and the Dow Jones Tobacco Index change periodically. In 2021, the Dow Jones Food & Beverage Index and the Peer Group Index included Freshpet Inc., which was not included in the indices in 2020. Additionally, in 2021 these indices do not include Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and TreeHouse Foods, Inc., which were included in the indices in 2020.

Overview

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand The Coca-Cola Company, our operations and our present business environment. MD&A is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes thereto contained in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this report. MD&A includes the following sections:

• Our Business — a general description of our business and its challenges and risks.

• Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates — a discussion of accounting policies that require critical judgments and estimates.

• Operations Review — an analysis of our consolidated results of operations for 2021 and 2020 and year-to-year comparisons between 2021 and 2020. An analysis of our consolidated results of operations for 2020 and 2019 and year-to-year comparisons between 2020 and 2019 can be found in MD&A in Part II, Item 7 of the Company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

• Liquidity, Capital Resources and Financial Position — an analysis of cash flows, contractual obligations, foreign exchange, and the impact of inflation and changing prices.

Our Business

General

The Coca-Cola Company is a total beverage company, and beverage products bearing our trademarks, sold in the United States since 1886, are now sold in more than 200 countries and territories. We own or license and market numerous beverage brands, which we group into the following categories: Trademark Coca-Cola; sparkling flavors; hydration, sports, coffee and tea; nutrition, juice, dairy and plant-based beverages; and emerging beverages. We own and market five of the world’s top six nonalcoholic sparkling soft drink brands: Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.

We make our branded beverage products available to consumers throughout the world through our network of independent bottling partners, distributors, wholesalers and retailers as well as the Company’s consolidated bottling and distribution operations. Beverages bearing trademarks owned by or licensed to us account for 2.1 billion of the approximately 63 billion servings of all beverages consumed worldwide every day.

We believe our success depends on our ability to connect with consumers by providing them with a wide variety of beverage options to meet their desires, needs and lifestyles. Our success further depends on the ability of our people to execute effectively, every day.

Our Company markets, manufactures and sells:

• beverage concentrates, sometimes referred to as “beverage bases,” and syrups, including fountain syrups (we refer to this part of our business as our “concentrate operations”); and

• finished sparkling soft drinks and other beverages (we refer to this part of our business as our “finished product operations”).

Generally, finished product operations generate higher net operating revenues but lower gross profit margins than concentrate operations.

Our concentrate operations typically generate net operating revenues by selling concentrates, syrups and certain finished beverages to authorized bottling operations (to which we typically refer as our “bottlers” or our “bottling partners”). Our bottling partners either combine concentrates with still or sparkling water and sweeteners (depending on the product), or combine syrups with still or sparkling water, to produce finished beverages. The finished beverages are packaged in authorized containers, such as cans and refillable and nonrefillable glass and plastic bottles, bearing our trademarks or trademarks licensed to us and are then sold to retailers directly or, in some cases, through wholesalers or other bottlers. In addition, outside the United States, our bottling partners are typically authorized to manufacture fountain syrups, using our concentrates, which they sell to fountain retailers for use in producing beverages for immediate consumption, or to authorized fountain wholesalers who

in turn sell and distribute the fountain syrups to fountain retailers. Our concentrate operations are included in our geographic operating segments and our Global Ventures operating segment.

Our finished product operations generate net operating revenues by selling sparkling soft drinks and a variety of other finished beverages to retailers, or to distributors and wholesalers who in turn sell the beverages to retailers. These operations consist primarily of our consolidated bottling and distribution operations, which are included in our Bottling Investments operating segment. In certain markets, the Company also operates non-bottling finished product operations in which we sell finished beverages to distributors and wholesalers that are generally not one of the Company’s bottling partners. These operations are generally included in one of our geographic operating segments or our Global Ventures operating segment. Additionally, we sell directly to consumers through retail stores operated by Costa. These sales are included in our Global Ventures operating segment. In the United States, we manufacture fountain syrups and sell them to fountain retailers, who use the fountain syrups to produce beverages for immediate consumption, or to authorized fountain wholesalers or bottling partners who in turn sell the fountain syrups to fountain retailers. These fountain syrup sales are included in our North America operating segment.

The following table sets forth the percentage of total net operating revenues attributable to concentrate operations and finished product operations:

The following table sets forth the percentage of total worldwide unit case volume attributable to concentrate operations and finished product operations:

We operate in the highly competitive commercial beverage industry. We face strong competition from numerous other general and specialty beverage companies. We, along with other beverage companies, are affected by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the cost to manufacture and distribute products, consumer spending, economic conditions, availability and quality of water, consumer preferences, inflation, political climates, local and national laws and regulations, foreign currency fluctuations, fuel prices, weather patterns and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout 2021, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related actions by governments around the world to attempt to contain the spread of the virus continued to impact our business globally. In particular, the number of people contracting COVID-19 and the preventive measures taken to contain COVID-19, including the spread of new variants, negatively impacted our unit case volume and increased our costs to manufacture and distribute our products. Our price, product and geographic mix was also negatively impacted, primarily due to unfavorable channel and product mix as consumer demand shifted to more at-home consumption versus away-from-home consumption. However, the timing and number of people receiving vaccinations, the governmental actions to reopen certain economies around the world, and the substance and pace of the economic recovery favorably impacted our business when compared

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Our Company uses derivative financial instruments primarily to reduce our exposure to adverse fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates, commodity prices and other market risks. We do not enter into derivative financial instruments for trading purposes. As a matter of policy, all of our derivative positions are used to reduce risk by hedging an underlying economic exposure. Because of the high correlation between the hedging instruments and the underlying exposures, fluctuations in the values of the instruments are generally offset by reciprocal changes in the values of the underlying exposures.

We monitor our exposure to market risks using several objective measurement systems, including a sensitivity analysis to measure our exposure to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and commodity prices. Refer to Note 5 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information about our hedging transactions and derivative financial instruments.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rates

We manage most of our foreign currency exposures on a consolidated basis, which allows us to net certain exposures and take advantage of any natural offsets. In 2021, we used 70 functional currencies in addition to the U.S. dollar and generated $25.6 billion of our net operating revenues from operations outside the United States; therefore, weakness in some currencies may be offset by strength in other currencies over time. We use derivative financial instruments to further reduce our net exposure to foreign currency fluctuations.

Our Company enters into forward exchange contracts and purchases foreign currency options and collars (principally euro, British pound sterling and Japanese yen) to hedge certain portions of forecasted cash flows denominated in foreign currencies. Additionally, we enter into forward exchange contracts to offset the earnings impact related to foreign currency fluctuations on certain monetary assets and liabilities. We also enter into forward exchange contracts as hedges of net investments in foreign operations.

The total notional values of our foreign currency derivatives were $13,691 million and $16,663 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. These values included derivative instruments that are designated and qualify for hedge accounting as well as economic hedges. The fair value of foreign currency derivatives that qualify for hedge accounting resulted in a net unrealized gain of $174 million as of December 31, 2021, and we estimate that a 10 percent weakening of the U.S. dollar would have decreased the net unrealized gain to $172 million. The fair value of the foreign currency derivatives that do not qualify for hedge accounting resulted in a net unrealized gain of $10 million as of December 31, 2021, and we estimate that a 10 percent weakening of the U.S. dollar would have resulted in a $58 million increase in fair value.

Interest Rates

The Company is subject to interest rate volatility with regard to existing and future issuances of debt. We monitor our mix of fixed-rate and variable-rate debt as well as our mix of short-term debt and long-term debt. From time to time, we enter into interest rate swap agreements to manage our exposure to interest rate fluctuations.

Based on the Company’s variable-rate debt and derivative instruments outstanding as of December 31, 2021, we estimate that a 1 percentage point increase in interest rates would have increased interest expense by $125 million in 2021. However, this increase in interest expense would have been partially offset by the increase in interest income due to higher interest rates.

The Company is subject to interest rate risk related to its investments in highly liquid debt securities. These investments are primarily managed by external managers within the guidelines of the Company’s investment policy. Our policy requires these investments to be investment grade, with the primary objective of minimizing the risk of principal loss. In addition, our policy

limits the amount of credit exposure to any one issuer. We estimate that a 1 percentage point increase in interest rates would have resulted in a $52 million decrease in the fair value of our portfolio of highly liquid debt securities.

Commodity Prices

The Company is subject to market risk with respect to commodity price fluctuations, principally related to our purchases of sweeteners, metals, juices, PET and fuels. We manage our exposure to commodity risks primarily through the use of supplier pricing agreements, which enable us to establish the purchase prices for certain inputs that are used in our manufacturing and distribution operations. When deemed appropriate, we use derivative financial instruments to further manage our exposure to commodity risks. Certain of these derivatives do not qualify for hedge accounting, but they are effective economic hedges that help the Company mitigate the price risk associated with the purchases and transportation of materials used in our manufacturing processes.

The total notional values of our commodity derivatives were $918 million and $726 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. These values included derivative instruments that are designated and qualify for hedge accounting as well as economic hedges. There were no significant commodity derivatives that qualify for hedge accounting as of December 31, 2021*.* The fair value of the commodity derivatives that do not qualify for hedge accounting resulted in a net gain of $127 million as of December 31, 2021, and we estimate that a 10 percent decrease in underlying commodity prices would have resulted in a $71 million decrease in fair value.

Table of Contents

THE COCA-COLA COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(In millions except per share data)

1 Calculated based on net income attributable to shareowners of The Coca-Cola Company.

Refer to Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

THE COCA-COLA COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

(In millions)

Refer to Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

THE COCA-COLA COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In millions except par value)

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Not applicable.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

The Company, under the supervision and with the participation of its management, including the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Company’s “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2021.

Report of Management on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting and Attestation Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The report of management on our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021 and the attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm on our internal control over financial reporting are set forth in Part II, “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” in this report.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended December 31, 2021 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Part III

The information with respect to Directors under the subheadings “Item 1 Election of Directors,” “Board Membership Criteria,” “Director Nomination Process” and “Biographical Information About Our Director Nominees” under the principal heading “Governance,” the information regarding the Codes of Business Conduct under the subheading “Additional Governance Matters” under the principal heading “Governance,” and the information regarding the Audit Committee under the subheading “Board and Committee Governance” under the principal heading “Governance” in the Company’s 2022 Proxy Statement are incorporated herein by reference. See Item X in Part I of this report for information regarding executive officers of the Company.

The information under the subheading “Director Compensation” under the principal heading “Governance,” the information under the subheadings “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” “Compensation Committee Report,” “Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation,” “Compensation Tables,” “Payments on Termination or Change in Control” and “Pay Ratio Disclosure” under the principal heading “Compensation,” and the information under the subheading “Annex B — Summary of Plans” under the principal heading “Annexes” in the Company’s 2022 Proxy Statement are incorporated herein by reference.

The information under the subheading “Equity Compensation Plan Information” under the principal heading “Compensation” and the information under the principal heading “Share Ownership” in the Company’s 2022 Proxy Statement are incorporated herein by reference.

The information under the subheading “Director Independence and Related Person Transactions” under the principal heading

“Governance” in the Company’s 2022 Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference.

The information regarding Audit Fees, Audit-Related Fees, Tax Fees, All Other Fees and Audit Committee Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of Independent Auditors under the subheading “Item 3 Ratification of the Appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as Independent Auditors” under the principal heading “Audit Matters” in the Company’s 2022 Proxy Statement is incorporated herein by reference.

Part IV

(a)The following documents are filed as part of this report:

1.Financial Statements:

Consolidated Statements of Income — Years Ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income — Years Ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Consolidated Balance Sheets — December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows — Years Ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Consolidated Statements of Shareowners’ Equity — Years Ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.

2.Financial Statement Schedules:

The schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) are not required under the related instructions or are inapplicable and, therefore, have been omitted.

3.Exhibits:

In reviewing the agreements included as exhibits to this report, please remember they are included to provide you with information regarding their terms and are not intended to provide any other factual or disclosure information about the Company or the other parties to the agreements. The agreements contain representations, warranties, covenants and conditions by or of each of the parties to the applicable agreement. These representations, warranties, covenants and conditions have been made solely for the benefit of the other parties to the applicable agreement and:

• should not in all instances be treated as categorical statements of fact, but rather as a way of allocating the risk to one of the parties if those statements prove to be inaccurate;

• may have been qualified by disclosures that were made to the other party in connection with the negotiation of the applicable agreement, which disclosures are not necessarily reflected in the agreement;

• may apply standards of materiality in a way that is different from what may be viewed as material to you or other investors; and

• were made only as of the date of the applicable agreement or such other date or dates as may be specified in the agreement and are subject to more recent developments.

Accordingly, these representations and warranties may not describe the actual state of affairs as of the date they were made or at any other time. Additional information about the Company may be found elsewhere in this report and the Company’s other public filings, which are available without charge through the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

EXHIBIT INDEX

(With regard to applicable cross-references in the list of exhibits below, the Company’s Current, Quarterly and Annual Reports are filed with the SEC under File No. 001-02217; and Coca-Cola Refreshments USA, Inc.’s (formerly known as Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.) Current, Quarterly and Annual Reports are filed with the SEC under File No. 001-09300).

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None.

Signatures

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.